Gunsmith: The Adventures of Naruto Uzumaki
by C0nsTanTine
Summary: Gunsmith. Native of Wave. Citizen merchant. Naruto Uzumaki is many things, but first, he was Naruto Taro. (AU, OCs, Pairings later.)
1. Ugly, Bloody, Screaming Life

**Disclaimer: Constantine and RoM don't own Naruto. Constantine does own his OCs however.  
And RoM owns all the water in his body as well as the ideas inside his brain.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Ugly, Bloody, Screaming. Life**

* * *

When you're born, all the family ever tells you, especially your own parents, is how beautiful or handsome you were at the moment you came into this world. That you were a sight to behold and at that exact time in the universe. That you were perfect. You were brought into this world in a pristine condition and 'cute'.

Which is a lie.

No matter who you are, when you were born, you were ugly. You were a mass of nerves and fat. You were fragile bones and blood in a screaming, pink, twitching sack of flesh. Covered in blood. And crying.

And that's life.

* * *

Kensei Uzumaki's eyes opened to the dim, faded light that passed through his window and into his room. He wasn't a morning person, and his house reflected that. The one glass window in his room never let the light directly into that part of the house, being placed north to south instead of east to west. He wanted to make sure any mornings he had a hangover weren't made worse by the rays of sunlight washing across his face and triggering a headache or a feeling of nausea. He still has those feelings from time to time, but he didn't need to drink for those. They just happened.  
He sighed and sat up in his bed, closing his eyes a moment and trying to recall what he had to do.  
'Breakfast. Tea. Clothes. Carry the wood out to the forge. Head into Wave and get the shipment of raw iron. Place an order in town for a cooked chicken. Bring the iron back. Pick up the chicken. Home. Draw up the plans for his client's sword. Eat. Refine the iron. Sleep.'  
Being the local blacksmith in a non-major, ninja-lacking village gave him a lot of free time. It also allowed him to accept orders from whoever he wanted without being told to do so by a Kage or a Daimyo. That meant all the money he made was his and his alone. No taxes to pay for protection, no income tax, no regulations on what he could or couldn't make, who he had to make weapons for, who he couldn't make weapons for, no limit to what materials he could get. The only things that decided who he made a sword for these days were the amount of money they paid and whether or not the client was 'honorable.' Not many ninja were worthy of a sword to him, which was why he had a job coming up in the Land of Iron. Say what you want about the Samurai, they knew right from wrong and defended the people above all else. And that's why he accepted their money. That and he was running out of food.

Kensei looked around his kitchen lazily, his brown eyes searching for anything he could eat. Half a bag of rice caught his eye, but other than that, his house seemed devoid of anything edible. 'Then again. . .that's why I'm headed out tomorrow.' He scratched his long, brown hair, contemplating what to drink it with. He had a full day ahead, so alcohol wasn't a choice. Sadly enough, he noticed, that was one of the only things - other than steel - he owned in abundance. 'Water it is. . .' Kensei sighed, walking over to the well near his forge, dropping the bucket and waiting for the tell-tale splash it made as it reached the bottom. He quickly pulled the rope up, used to the hand over hand action years of repeating this same scene in front of him had engrained into his muscles. As the bucket reached the top, he noticed he forgot a pitcher to hold the water between his well and the trip back to his house.  
'. . .I hate today.'  
That statement was thought, uttered, mentioned, cursed, mumbled, put into haiku form, had epic tales written about it and shouted by Kensei most of his life.  
Something was always ruining his mood – which was already complacent at best most days – and he figured it had something to do with his ancestors or maybe a past life or whatever the hell happened when you died and placed your blame/faith in an invisible creator you already questioned the existence of in the first place. Then again, people shot fire out of their mouths, summoned giant, talking animals and on occasion brought the dead back from the grave.  
Who was he to judge?  
None of this, however, changed the fact he had to pick up the damn pitcher from the damn kitchen.

* * *

Kensei tossed the last piece of wood into the collection he had been amassing next to his forge, taking a deep breath and wiping away the sweat from his forehead. His arms felt spent; He would have to refrain from any heavy lifting until he was in the Land of Iron. A blacksmith that couldn't use his arms was useless and he was getting paid enough for his next job to take a break and tinker around in his own smith when he came back in a few months. They had promised him free food while he was working, lodging and, much to his surprise, even an armed escort to as well as from Wave to Iron itself. That's why he worked for Iron – Say what you will about the way of the samurai being dead, but they knew how to honor an agreement.  
With his work around the house done for the moment, he knew it was time to make the trek into the village to get his materials. The sooner he managed to gather and refine his iron, the less he'd have to smelt when he came back from his trip. It was one of those mundane actions he had burned into his mind over the years, hating it too much for words. It required a lot of waiting and not enough pay off. Most of the ore was burnt off or lost in the process of turning it into steel from the raw matter itself.  
In layman's terms, he lost money.  
Kensei walked back to his house, tossing his shirt across the length of his room and into a corner he dubbed 'that one place where all my dirty clothes go.' He then proceeded to search his room for what he deemed a 'clean' shirt, finding a tan one on his dresser, half hanging off. He pulled it over his head and slid his arms into the sleeves, the cloth helping cut the light chill that always surrounded his home. He looked down at his pants to make sure they weren't covered in mud or wood fragments from his time spent outside. Not catching anything outstanding on his black pants, he checked his matching shoes quickly, proud of how well-cleaned he was. For once. In about five months.  
He checked his pockets as he walked out his door, making sure he had his keys and his documentation. Wave, a popular trading village between Kiri and Konoha, was very strict on making sure whoever went down to the docks was who they claimed to be. After having to talk to the village council two separate times due to losing his own papers, Kensei made sure to /never/ forget his papers, even when he was out of the area. He found it strange; He had to have certified papers in his- well, the place he now lived – village, but when he was abroad, all he needed was a job document or even just state he was 'on business.' Maybe that was the difference between civilian and ninja-run villages. Without the right papers, a civilian could tell who was supposed to be there and who wasn't. Ninja just killed whoever started problems.  
Then again, Wave did get hit fairly often by bandits. Only the wealthy and a few of the docking ships had guards; often just for their cargo or goods. He had the benefit of living just far enough away from the village itself that no one even bothered him. Unless they meant to.  
Occasionally a trader or two from Wave would stop by, have a drink and they'd do business. But other than that, all he had were 'transactions' between swordsmen that thought they were worthy of one of his blades or a dignitary from a village – much like the Land of Iron- and he signed a little piece of paper stating he would work for them.  
State your name, age, village of origin, current place of residence, occupancy, civilian or military, if military are you active or retired, if civilian, merchant or other, if visiting from out of local residence are you a member of a foreign government which includes but is not limited to nobility, military, council or other such related offices.  
In the event of an emergency, who do we contact.  
'Cemetery.'  
That was an inside-joke for Kensei.  
He turned around and locked the door to his house, not sure how long he was going to be at the docks before he would be able to get what he needed. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Smoke.  
Fire.  
Shouting, screaming, crying.  
People running.  
That's one thing Kensei knew would continue for a while; People running around the village. Fire sparked some kind of urgency in people that just made it impossible to walk or jog. You needed to go as fast as possible.  
He saw the smoke well before he saw the village itself, but he didn't think much of it. Sometimes the baker burnt his bread, the docks caught fire, or there was some kind of barbeque. He liked to be optimistic. Until he saw the bodies. Kensei jogged into the town, noting that it was now in the hands of the villagers, a few guards and even three samurai. He noticed one of his usual merchants, Kyo, the man talking with a dock worker, the worker soon nodding and taking off to help put out one of the fires, a few ninja putting it out with suiton jutsu, civilians using buckets. Kyo sold cloth and textiles. The two men also liked to drink at the same bar together.  
"Kyo, the fuck happened?"  
"Bandit raid." He motioned for Kensei to follow him, the blacksmith walking along the dock and into the village.  
"Apparently they heard about the shipment of gold passing through. Konoha to Kiri I think."  
"How bad is it?"  
"Fifty-six dead. Thirty-six men, eleven women. Three kids." Kyo sighed and stopped by the edge of the town and near the forest where a lot of the bodies were. "They came in here. . .cut right through most of the civilians and a few of the guards. They kept pushing forward to the docks, got pushed back by the guards and the samurai Kiri hired to follow their money-" His conversation was cut short by a baby's cry. Kensei looked over the bodies and came as close as he could to the noise. He saw a familiar face of a woman, the eyes closed and her arms cradling a cloth. ". . .Fuck."  
He took a knee next to the woman and moved some of her hair away from her face. A few strands of her light brown hair refused to move, sticking to the flecks of blood on her cheek and forehead. Kensei took a moment to close her eyes, the blue in them finally being hidden. He knew the woman. Before she had her kid, they had traded a few times. She was a leather worker.  
"Yeah. . .Hitomi was one of the last ones they got on their way out through the forest. I guess she was hiding her kid." Kyo mentioned, looking around as well then stepping closer, checking the face on a nearby corpse. "And I guess I know why she died. Husband's here too." Kensei took the blonde child from Hitomi's arms, finding it uneasy as he did, but he pushed the feeling down. "Looks like he took out a few ninja." Kensei turned around, careful with the now falling-asleep infant he had in his arms, the blonde hair matching the body he was looking at. It wasn't platinum, more of a lemon yellow. A deep yellow. The man on the ground also had a sword in his hand, blood seeping out of his shirt and caked in his sword's grip. Kensei knew by the steel, the insignia of a three-headed wolf and hand-guard that it was made in the Land of Iron. He was probably an ex-samurai. ". . .They have any relatives I could bring the kid to?"  
"Not that I'm aware of. I'm pretty sure Hitomi mentioned she was from Kiri, and. . .for the life of me, I'm drawing a blank on the husband. Real quiet type. All smiles and work. Last name was Taro though. . .not much to go on, really."  
"They have any friends that might know?"  
"Other than people who knew them in their native villages, I don't think so. She was always taking care of their kid and he was always out at the docks working."  
". . .Does the kid even have a name?"  
"Yeah, she called him Naruto."  
". . .So what's gonna happen to him?"  
"I guess we'll take him to Konoha or Kiri. He's probably still eligible for adoption in Kiri's books because his mom was a national. Konoha's all about that orphan stuff-"  
Kensei sighed and looked back at the sword. Maybe he could find a relative on his trip.  
"Actually Kyo, I know where that blade's from. All their swords are marked and recorded in books back in the Land of Iron. Maybe I'll find him an uncle or something."  
"Alright then. Wait. . ."  
"Yeah?"  
"Do you even know how to take care of a baby?"  
". . .They shit and you clean it out, they eat and cry a lot. That's it, right?"  
". . . . .I'd be shocked and appalled if that wasn't actually true."

* * *

Kensei looked down at the baby in his arms, which in turn, was looking right back up at him, almost in a stare. Not a glare- malice doesn't really translate through an infant- just a passive stare. Like it was contemplating who this strange man holding him was and why he should care. And when was he going to get food.  
Kensei had his metals delivered to his house by a few dock workers once the fires were out, assuming the best thing he could do for the moment was take care of the baby he was now in possession of. He looked around his kitchen, remembering he was out of food.  
'These things drink milk and that's it, right?' He tried to remember what he had seen babies eat or drink. It had been a while since he'd even caught a glimpse of an infant, let alone watched one eat. He'd definitely have to ask around when the time came. And how were you supposed to clean them? God, they always smelt like sulfur and rotten meat when it was. . .that time. He knew that for sure.  
Thankfully, little Naruto had either gone before or didn't have anything in him to 'let go' of. That was a nightmare he was hoping to pass over completely when he got to the Land of Iron. It would take four days to travel there by horse, but now he had to take a wagon, extending his trip by another three.  
"Naruto Taro. Shit kid, your parents must have hated you. Named after a foodstuff in a sub-par noodle dish and getting the most common last name I've seen this side of 'Lee.' If there's a God or whatever, he's gotta be picking on you."  
Hell, he had just lost his own parents and he wasn't even old enough to remember their faces. Or how much they probably loved him.  
". . .I'm sure your relatives will be able to cover that whole set of questions when you're older though. . ."  
Unless they were drunks. And abusive. Or maybe dead. Or non-existent.  
Kensei shook his head. Why did he suddenly care to much about what happened to this kid? He had just found out the damn thing existed today. Well, he knew he was alive before this, but it was damn sure the first time he had ever caught a glimpse of the thing. And it looked stunningly like its own parents already. He had the blonde hair his father seemed to have and even the deep blue eyes Hitomi had. That was half of how he remembered the woman. Laughing and looking at him with those eyes.  
He was pulled out of his thoughts by a random 'Wah?' the baby spewed out of its tiny mouth. Like it was asking him a question.  
"Alright. I promise to get some milk before he go, happy?"  
"Wah?"  
"And clean you. Or better yet, find a woman who knows how to."  
"Lurr!"  
"I knew you'd like that." Kensei smirked, patting the kid on his head twice. That's what you did to babies right? Petted them like a dog or a cat? It had been a while.  
It had been quite some time since he had actually seen. . .anybody, really. He tried to avoid the whole thing. It made him dread 'merchant day'- When he had to go to town to get something for a sword or pretend to be someone's friend at the bar just so they would sell him something cheaper. He tended to hate his customers too, for the most part. All they ever did was ask him for weapons and make threats if he didn't. Those select few usually got a knife or an arrow bolt to their kidney. Kensei hadn't been a ninja, but over the years he had learned how to protect himself just by having common sense. It did however, take one big mistake in order for him to know when a threat needed to be 'taken care of.'  
"Wah!" And again, the blonde infant had pulled him from his thoughts.  
"Shit kid, I remember when I picked you up you went to sleep. When the fuck did that stop?!"  
"Wah!"  
"OK, GOD! WE'LL GET THE DAMN MILK!"  
"Wah!"  
Kensei cried in frustration and stood up, carrying the boy with him out his door. His trip to the Land of Iron couldn't come fast enough.

* * *

"Waaahhhhh! Waaaaahhhhhh!"  
Crying.  
For the past two hours and twenty minutes, crying.  
Unending, pitch never wavering, someone gaining octaves that would make most animals implode or bleed from the ears, crying.  
Carrying across the cloth walls in the wagon, passing out the thin flap that moved in the wind and with every little bump on the road, then into what Kensei guessed was a valley, reverberating off of the cliffs and hills then coming back into the same small space and getting louder, crying.  
Or at least that's what it felt like.  
"Naruto. . .come on. I'm trying to help you out here and you just won't. . .shut. . .up." Kensei tried to feed the baby again, tilting the bottle he held. Naruto turned his head away for a moment then started sucking on the bottle. It seemed the only way to stop the boy was to give him food. He managed to find a store that was willing to sell him the supplies he needed to take care of Naruto for his trip to Iron itself, but he'd need to restock on milk and diapers. Most certainly he'd have to get new diapers. He changed one already and. . .to be honest, it had scared the smith. He had seen corpses piled together, left in the sun and burnt with acids that by themselves had odors strong enough to make him cringe.  
But those diapers. . .  
Nightmares couldn't create a smell that rancid.  
It was the materialized version of death.  
His soul would forever carry the stench he had caught with him. Even to the afterlife.  
And that was only the /first/ one he had to deal with.  
From what the woman had told him at the store, this was going to be a problem for him at /minimum/ four times. A day. Oh, and also at night.  
Kensei knew that as his first priority in Iron, he would get the remainder of what he had to for taking care of Naruto. He figured whatever he had left over when he found a relative could be a sort of 'welcoming gift.'  
An 'I'm sorry your loved ones died and now you have a living creature you may have never seen before to take care of for the foreseeable future' gift.  
He made a mental note to find out more about the bandit attack when he got back home. He had a few favors to call in with a few customers. People that could remind the bandits why it was a bad idea to fuck with the place he lived. Well, lived near.  
There was a lot to consider. And he wasn't even going to be back in same nation for at least two months. Anyone that participated or even planned the attack could be gone or even have died by then.  
But that was just something he'd work around when the time arose.  
Right now, there was a certain stench arising.  
And the culprit in question was in his arms.  
He moved the bottle out of Naruto's mouth and tried not to gag at the smell wafting around the wagon.  
"SON OF A BITCH!"  
"Yaaahh!"  
Ok, he would definitely kill the people responsible.

* * *

Snow.  
Blinding, driving, every color melding into the brightest white ever crafted.  
All the time.  
That was what Kensei experienced every time he had come to the Land of Iron. It was also 'effin cold'.  
He made sure to wrap Naruto twice, two of his own blankets covering the baby as well as keeping the infant as close to him as he could. It took him ten minutes, but he managed to change the boy in the wagon. He also managed to hock the used diaper as far as he could out of the wagon, praising the spirits as he saw it sailing into the wilderness and away from his life.  
Kensei had also put on a new layer of clothing, his face covered mostly by a hood and his arms protected from the chill by his black, wool coat. It did itch slightly, but that was a small price to pay for the lack of shivering. He had asked his driver how far they were from the village, and he almost always received the same answer. "When it's in sight, we're usually there already."  
Kensei /hated/ the cold.  
It was one of two things on this planet he wished would die. As much as one could wish the weather itself to die. He didn't understand it; Why did winter even exist? It just made everything unbearably cold, crops died, animals hibernated and weren't able to be hunted, the trees thinned out and lost their leaves, water froze and had to be heated in order to even be used and for some retarded reason, it made rain into hail. It made liquid into a solid that /hit/ you. And even if it made snow, that crap could bury you alive in your own home and kill you.  
Winter weather was just put on this planet to be annoying.

He also hated cows, but that was an entirely different subject.

Loved the beef they were made of, hated the creatures.

But right now, he was just hoping they'd be in the village soon. The thin leather or cloth the wagon was made out of flapped in the wind, despite the roof of the wagon itself looking frozen stiff. Despite everything, the child in his arms seemed to find now a good time to take a nap.  
'He's pooped.' Kensei thought for a moment before noticing he had just used a pun.  
'. . .I'm so old.' He lowered his head in sadness. He was using puns and had a baby to take care of. It'd probably only be a few days before he forgot where he was and just died. Maybe he should just get a tombstone while he was in Iron and let nature take its course.  
"Oi, we're here!" He heard the driver state.  
"About time." Kensei muttered. He sat up slowly, the wagon coming to a full stop. His back popped as he made his way out of the wagon, jumping down and landing in a foot of snow.  
". . .I fucking hate snow."  
"We're well aware of this by now Kensei." He turned and saw his contractor.  
"Bantou Raiten."  
"And I see we're using formal greetings. Been a while, Kensei Uzumaki." Bantou bowed mockingly and smirked when he walked over to Kensei. "I'd shake your hand, but it looks like their full at the moment. Didn't think of you as the type to settle down. Where's the missus?"  
"Dead."  
"Kensei-"  
"Don't worry, Naru-. . .it isn't mine. Bandits hit Wave. Parents died. Father was a real piece of work judging by the bodies he managed to surround himself with. One of yours by the look of his blade." He nodded his head towards the sword on his back. "Was hoping you could find his relatives. Let 'em know. And get this kid a proper home, yeah?"  
"Of course. He have a name?"  
"Last one was Taro, didn't have a first confirmed by anybody. Kid's name is Naruto if that helps. Blonde like his old man."  
"That should help, but our records aren't exactly perfect. We've had a few of the older buildings collapse due to the weight of the snow. And wouldn't you know it. . ."  
"Yeah, government buildings tend to get few or no renovations. . ."  
"Waste of taxes."  
"Isn't everything?"  
"Hey, I wouldn't say that if I were you. Who do you think is financing you?"  
"The wonderful people of this fine and upstanding land?"  
"One and the same."  
Kensei stood still and looked down at Naruto, the boy still deep in his little slumber. He felt his heart sting slightly when he noticed the way he swatted at a snow flake absentmindedly. "I guess until then I could take care of the little annoyance."  
"Are you sure? We have a very well stocked orphanage. One of those government buildings that manages to keep its funding. Mostly from private pockets, but you understand."  
". . .Nah, it's fine. Wouldn't want to burden you with this monster's eating habits anyways. But uh. . .it wouldn't be too much of an issue to alter the contract, would it?"  
"Not at all. Few more swords and knives, anything is possible."  
Kensei smirked. Contracts were always negotiable. Unlike the damn weather.

* * *

Kensei looked at the paper in his hands, smiling broadly at the amount of money he had managed to secure. On arrival back to Wave, he would be the favorite of every bar, every brothel, and every smoked meat store that still existed or was rebuilt by his return.  
"Waahh!"  
And Naruto could eat as much as he needed while Kensei was watching over him. He placed the document in his pocket and walked over to the bed he had laid the baby Naruto on. After picking the boy up, he lifted the bottle next to him as well, feeding the blonde.  
The house he was in- the apartment, actually- was one he knew well. It was the same one every time he came back to Iron. They almost had the place on lease for him. Offered it as a 'permanent residence' if he ever decided to move in.  
Not that he would.  
Admittedly, moving into a nation meant you had stable work. It also meant you only worked for one nation. At a set rate. And when wartime came around, you had very strict regulations. The Land of Iron was neutral in the ninja world; the samurai viewed themselves as peacekeepers. A dying breed of honorable warriors that protected themselves and were a self-reliant people.  
That also meant Kensei, while a frequent visitor, would have too much downtime for his liking.  
He needed to work, it kept his mind busy and skills sharp. He never was good with any of the weapons he made, but he was /damn/ fine at making them. A few lessons and basics here or there from customers and even his father back when he lived in Kusagakure, but nothing remarkable. Kensei could swing a sword, but then again, who couldn't?  
Lift, tilt, push. Physics.  
Bows and arrows went the same. Aim, pull string, aim, let go or pull trigger. Physics.  
Throwing knives. Aim, toss. Physics.  
Back when he was in school, Kensei never liked math. He never liked P.E. Hell, the only things he even passed were advanced writing and what his country passed-off as music; Kensei knew how a guitar worked.  
The parts of school he loved and managed to retain were simple: Women and how to make money.  
At the ripe age of thirteen, Kensei found out real quick that the people who didn't get beat up or left in the cold had money or could punch the shit out of someone.  
And he was one of those rail-thin kids.  
So he had to take the more diplomatic approach to life growing up.  
Take a punch or sell the boy a new Icha Icha Paradise.  
Lucky for him, thirteen was also the age most /other/ boys wanted to know what was so important about those books.  
And that was the start of his life as a merchant.  
By the time he was eighteen, the young Uzumaki had been the go-to man for all things able to be bought within campus grounds.  
Kunai for the ninja-in-training, 'reading materials' for the men, alcohol for parties, documents- both forged and authentic- for any self-respecting student that needed a way out of school early.  
This promising business venture he ran also made him popular with all the right people. In Kusa, this was seen as a respected path. The elders saw diplomacy as the ultimate tool in life.  
Why fight when you can just get the other party to pay you /and/ leave you alone instead?  
Popularity also warranted attention from the girls.  
And Kensei loved it.  
And he hated it.

"Fuck off, sluts!" He heard from across the main building, wincing slightly as the sound carried. It was feminine. And familiar. Kensei caught sight of a group of girls his age running away and past him without so much as a 'hello' or 'goodbye.' And then it all made sense.  
"Kasumi." He muttered and rubbed his eyes. Kensei turned around, hand still covering his face, hoping that with luck, he could make it back to class and away-  
"Uzumaki, where do you think you're going?" He heard a voice call out sweetly. That never boded well for him.  
"Was thinking about getting some food. I mean, it's about twelve or one right now, judging by the sun-"  
"It's one. Perfect time for us-" He felt a hand on his shoulder. "-to skip and get some food off campus." Escape was no longer an option. Kensei Uzumaki was dead. He could see his father grieving over his casket, throwing flowers at it, mourning him for a few months, getting over him, buying a dog or something to replace the feeling of loss. Which pissed him off. Why the hell was a dog on the same level as him to his dad? Kensei was his son and he was theoretically dead! What made a non-existent puppy so damn important?!  
'I HATE YOU, IMAGINARY DAD!'  
"Ken-chan?"  
He sighed and turned around, looking at his friend in the eyes. Which required Kensei looking down. She was always shorter than him, ever since they were toddlers to Kensei's growth spurt around his fifteenth birthday.  
"Yeah, sure. Sounds fun."  
"Good! I would have had to kill you if you said no!" He watched the girl smile. She had the same brown eyes as when they had been forced into play dates by their parents. Her brown hair had grown darker and was now down to where Kensei guessed was the middle of her back.  
"Ken-chan." The girl stated, trying to get his attention. He was always spacing out.  
"Tomato-chan." Her voice picked up in tone, gaining that darker, more malicious tint to it he was familiar with.  
". . . .Bloody-idiot!" She shouted at him, Kensei's eyes blinking quickly, his thoughts tossed aside and asunder, lost as quickly as he had gained them.  
"W-what is it Kasumi?"  
". . .Kasumi /what/?"  
"K-Kasumi-C-chan!" He rattled off quickly, his heart beating in fear. Years of punches to the sternum and face made his reflexes flinch in pain, used to the experience of being pummeled after that particular name. When she was pissed, his dark-red hair color was brought into the argument. Then his intelligence.  
"Great, you remember my name! For a second you were staring at me like your brain had finally melted." She smirked and moved closer to him, putting both her arms around his neck.  
"Orr was my little tomato-chan thinking bad things about me?"  
"/Fuck/ no!" Kensei blurted out. She was going to beat the ever-living shit out of him for thoughts like that.  
Thoughts.  
Thinking.  
He didn't do that enough.  
He ran his own words to her previous statement over in his mind once more.  
He had just insulted her.  
"Kensei. . ."  
". . .I'll buy lunch."  
"Not good enough." No emotion. Maybe his imaginary funeral would mirror his real one. Maybe his father could get a smaller dog. A cuter one. He'd be fine with his dad replacing him with a smaller dog. Name it after him or something.  
No, if he did that, it'd probably die of bad luck.  
"I'll ditch class with you for the next four days and take you out on a date." He was going to have to pull out all the stops if he was going to keep his dad from replacing his dead son with 'Kensei the Second'.  
His future murderer's glare softened, a healthy pink hue on her cheeks.  
"Ok then. You can live."  
"Take that Kensei the Second!" He shouted and threw his fist up in exuberance.  
". . .You are /so/ weird." Kasumi stated, shaking her head and punching his shoulder.  
"Damn straight."  
"Waaah!"

"Waaah!"  
Kensei's eyes looked down, the baby in his arms whining. It took him a moment to remember where he was, his brain overclocking. Land of Iron. He was twenty-five now. He was feeding Naruto.  
And then his mind clicked, everything making sense once more and the feeling of familiarity coming back to him.  
As well as a smell that was comparable to a decaying corpse.  
"Oh /shit/."  
And he was right.

* * *

Kensei looked at the materials in front on him. Large, refined steel bars, weather-treated spools of black and blue cloth, a few blocks of finished redwood and even smaller bars steel. The larger bars of steel for the swords, the cloth was for the grip, the handle itself would be whittled into shape out of the redwood and the small bars were to be crafted into a mix of the sword guard and smaller survival knives. The knives themselves required only a few hours of grinding against a whetstone, but the swords and guards would make up much of his time. Days and weeks of folding each blade over and over and over, reheating and recooling then more folding. That was the process in which you made a proper katana. A premium katana was made up of at least three different types of steel and it took quite some time as well as money in order to put them together.  
Luckily, for Kensei, they picked premium.  
Or unluckily.  
It meant he was paid far more than usual, but it also was labor intensive. Each sword would take at least two and a half weeks. He praised the low pass rate of samurai in Iron. If an entire class graduated each year, he would have had to make close to fifty swords every visit.  
The forge he was allowed to use in the metalworking was almost as familiar as the one he used in Wave. Sometimes Kensei thought that he might have subconsciously altered his own personal one to be the same. Whatever the reason, it also saved him a few days from having to acclimate to his working space. When he worked in Kiri for the first few times, between the mist blocking his view and not remembering where the tables or anvils were, he had stubbed his toe four times, broke his hand with a hammer and actually /grabbed/ a half-cooled sword for a moment thinking it was his wolf-jaw tongs.  
In Iron, the only problem he faced was over-cooling his swords if they were left out too long. It was rare, but it had happened before. Three weeks of work could be lost to a single swing of the hammer, breaking his work as well as pay in half.  
While all of these problems were trial and error and less error than usual because of his time spent making swords for the last six years, he still had one rather annoying hindrance in his life.  
"Lurr!"  
Kensei turned his head to the now awake Nauto. He had let the infant out of his bundle, the 'littlest Taro' was now slapping his hands in the air and making what Kensei assumed was 'baby noises'. While it was admittedly cute, it also jumbled his thoughts with each different coagulation of sounds. Each one could mean he needed more milk. Or he had pooped. Or he wanted to be held. That was a big one. Well, one of the two big ones. Naruto ate like nothing Kensei had ever had the 'luck' of seeing before him, and he almost craved being held and looked at. He would throw tantrums rivaling a pack of cats fighting over tuna all in an attempt to be picked up and admired.  
'Maybe Hitomi babied him too much.'  
Babied him too much. Of course she did, Kensei berated himself, Naruto was only a baby. What the hell else would she have done?  
Would her replacement do the same? Would the relatives even get out of their beds when he wanted attention? Wanted food? Wanted to be comforted and cared for?  
These thoughts hurt him to no end. So he did what he always did when he thought too much. He worked.

Kensei swung his hammer into the heated metal, the echoing clang muted to him. He had reached what he would refer to as 'inattentive action'. Anyone could relate to it, not just a swordsmith. It was that strange zone your mind wandered to when you completed or were in the process of any action that was mundane and repetitive: Spacing out. No thought. Muscle memory and sometimes you snapped out to fix something here or there when the problem arose, but otherwise you were dead to the world.  
Zen.  
"Yeeheheheee!"  
Kensei turned, his breath heavy after having worked for so long on folding the steel of his first katana. He had placed Naruto in a bundle of blankets again and laid the young boy in a makeshift crib out of the wooden blocks he was going to use for the handles and another blanket he fashioned into a cot of sorts. Naruto was inside the house, but near the door, safe from the elements under the roof. The boy seemed to enjoy the clang of his hammer and the sudden 'woosh' from when he had given the lump of metal on his anvil a quick drop into the chemical-mixed water. It was almost as if the noises themselves were comforting to the kid. It confused Kensei to no end.  
He had heard from people when he was growing up and even when he got Naruto's clothes and diapers that babies liked relaxing sounds. Lullabies and water lapping up against the shore. Not harsh twangs and smacks from metal on metal. The sizzle of heat and water fighting to make steam. The roar of the furnace, coals crackling and snapping like what Kensei might have guessed the fires of hell would be like.  
Naruto, the baby who cherished being held and cuddled was addicted to the sounds of destruction, reconstruction and fire.  
He was definitely going to grow up to be an awkward child.  
For some reason, that made Kensei smile.

* * *

"Kenny boy!"  
Kensei groaned and sat up, his eyes adjusting to the lack of light, he tried to think of what day it was.  
One month since he had gotten to Iron. And it was early.  
"The fuck is it?" He answered rudely, still trying to wake up as he made his way down the hall. Kensei picked Naruto up out of his crib calmly, the blonde already awake are ready to have a 'kick-ass day' as Kensei referred to them.  
"Come on Kensei, you know who it is. Who else would be up this early?"  
"No one but you, Bantou."  
"Exactly!"  
"The hell are you so excited about." He called out to his front door, opening it with Naruto held in his free arm. Over the past thirty days, he had grown accustomed to the boy. He wasn't even that annoyed when he had to wake up in the middle of his dreams to feed him. Or change his diapers. Or just hold him.  
"You're a father." Bantou said as Kensei looked at him.  
". . .You're pregnant? I knew you took advantage of me." He moved out of the way to let his contractor into the house.  
"You wish. Naruto Taro, while having a very unique first name, has too common of a last name. Even with the blonde hair. . .no one knows who his father is." Bantou sat down in the living room, sighing in relaxation.  
"What about the records?"  
"Out of the three buildings we've had collapse /this year/, wouldn't you know it. . ."  
"His were in one."  
"Bingoooo." Bantou elongated the word to try and make the baby in his friend's arms laugh. It worked. He was always more open when he was off the clock. He saw Kensei as a little brother of sorts. They had always joked around and gotten drunk when the opportunity presented itself, and if it wasn't for his friend, he might not have ever met his fiance.  
". . .What's that mean?"  
"Means the kid isn't eligible for his clan's money, even if it existed. Also means he's going to go into the orphanage and if he isn't adopted by the age of six, he will be property of the government. With that, he will be put into government mandated education and tested to see if he is able to be a samurai for this great land I live in. If he doesn't, we give him to one of the public houses and he can be introduced into the civilian populace when he reaches fourteen and given a small sum of money with which he will be able to start his new life. The system we've had in place for years. Usually works out. Pretty low turn-out for criminals and most of 'em get adopted well before their six."  
". . .Adoption-"  
"Has to be run by the council, Mifune himself and the prospective parents are reviewed to make sure they have the funds and mental facilties to take care of a child. All that boring shit." Bantou made a face, Naruto laughing again. Kensei sat down across from Bantou, his mind going over all the possibilities for the life in his arms.  
"Is adoption open to anyone?"  
"Iron residents are given priority, but if it's a special case. . .we tend to overlook that."  
Kensei always was a stupid man.  
". . .I'd like to make an appointment with the council."  
"Sure thing. And I'm going to make an appointment with a bottle of sake!" Bantou smirked. He knew Kensei would want to adopt the kid.  
Kensei always was a stupid man.

* * *

Forms.  
Work Visa.  
More forms.  
There was probably an entire division of people alone that would have to read and re-read whatever he was signing. And that was before he was even able to talk to the council. Everything had to be done in the slowest and most official way possible when it came to governments, and that was boring to Kensei. It made much more sense to just have the man talk to the people themselves and let them see how committed he was to taking care of Naruto. He knew how to feed the kid and make sure he didn't smell. Isn't that all a parent was there for? To make sure the child smelled right and ate food until it was old enough to do those things for itself? An older man stepped out from a set of doors, two samurai flanking him.  
"Uzumaki, Kensei, current resident of Wave, you have been approved to talk to the council. Please leave any and all weapons you have in your possession at the front desk please, failure to do so will result in your ejection from the premises. Do you agree to these terms?"  
"Yeah. All I got is a knife and this pencil you guys lent me. I take it one of them has a lead allergy?"  
Kensei pulled his knife out carefully and held it upside down, calmly placing it in the gloved hand of a samurai who bowed politely. He did the same with the pencil, trying not to laugh. The older man didn't seem to get his joke. Then again, ninja probably killed more with less, so maybe it was an actual precaution.  
Bantou walked in behind him, nodding to the man and the samurai, carrying Naruto in his arms until Kensei's own were free at which point he handed the infant over. Kensei heard the doors close lightly behind him and Bantou, the Iron native walked over to the side of the door and stood still, bowing slightly to the council. They nodded in acknowledgment to him before turning to Kensei.  
The Uzumaki himself bowed lightly, careful not to tilt Naruto too much. He seemed to find the movement funny.  
"Ehehehehe!"  
The council members smirked and one chuckled. Kensei smiled and sat down, the elderly men across from him doing the same.  
"Kensei Uzumaki, we would first like to thank you for your time as well as your contributions to our nation over the years." The man in the middle called out to him.  
"Thank you, sir." This is when military training would come in handy. It was standard curriculum to all people of Kusa to know how to talk to people of all lands and economic backgrounds. And a council tended to fund the more militarized functions of a nation.  
"We would also like to commend your attempts to find young. . ." The man looked at the papers in front of him briefly. "Naruto Taro's family. I heard that due to the loss of our records, we are not able to confirm his actual lineage."  
"That is correct, sir."  
"It pains me to see such a young member of our land already orphaned, but I can also breathe a sigh of relief knowing he was taken care of by such a person as yourself."  
"Thank you, sir."  
"Now, in the essence of time and what is best for young Naruto, we would like to discuss a few things with you. And even after we are done here, if all goes well, you still have to gain approval of our nation's highest ranking official, General Mifune, before this child would even be eligible for adoption. You are aware of this?"  
"Yes sir."  
"Let the records show that Kensei Uzumaki has agreed to the council's hearing this day and the arrangement orally given to him."  
Every member of the council rose their hand. "Aye."

And then the questions came.  
"Where are you from originally?"  
"Kusa. Kusagakure."  
"What is your current profession and place of living?"  
"Swordsmith, Blacksmith, general merchant of military and civilian grade tools, weapons and armor. I reside as of this time in the Land of Wave. I am also on contract here in the Land of Iron and am housed in the main village itself."  
"What is your relation to the child at this time recognized as 'Naruto Taro'?"  
"He was the son of a man that lived in Wave. I found him in his mother's arms after a bandit attack. His mother and father died during the attack."  
"On your current salary, would you be able to support yourself as well as Naruto Taro?"  
"Yes."  
"Have you now, or at any time, been given a medical evaluation of mental fitness by a recognized elemental nation and failed to receive a clean bill of health?"  
"No."  
"Why would you like to adopt Naruto Taro?"

"Mr. Uzumaki?"  
"Sorry. It's a question I've been thinking about recently." Kensei looked down at the baby and watched him watching /him/. "I want him to grow up. . .normal."  
"Normal?"  
"Like a regular person. Not full of hate, not questioning why he was left to live when his parents weren't, not with a family that's just going to treat him like. . .some kind of pet. I won't baby the kid, but I'm sure as hel-. . .heck not going to treat him like. . .well, crap. Maybe if I can keep him in civilian life. . .he'll grow up and be one of those happy people when he gets older. Have a job doing something he loves or he's passable at, have a wife or something. Not some little ball of. . .pissed off sadness with a lot of hate and nothing to show for it.  
I don't even know what I'm trying to say here. . .I. . .I want to adopt him because I want to see him /live/. If that actually means anything."  
". . .It does. You might not have the right words for it, but somehow, you've managed to express the notion." The older man smiled. He then turned to the other council members. "Any further questions?"  
No one spoke up.  
"At this time, would Kensei Uzumaki stand up."  
Kensei stood up slowly, holding Naruto a little tighter than he usually did.  
"Fellow council members, after hearing Mr. Uzumaki's answers, does anyone here decline his request for adoption of Naruto Taro?"  
No one spoke up.  
"The council recognizes a unanimous decision. Pending confirmation from General Mifune, the Land of Iron approves of Kensei Uzumaki as legal guardian of Naruto Taro. Congratulations."

* * *

Kensei stared down at the product of two months work. It was. . .strangely anti-climatic. He lifted the blade up carefully on his sleeves, making sure not to touch the finished sword itself. Kensei tilted the sword slightly to the left and followed the curve from it's hilt to the very tip of the blade itself – It was an exact replica of the other four he had made before it. The steel was folded eight hundred times, with three different variants of metal and had an outer coating of lightly tempered chakra metal. It allowed the Iron samurai to mold their own chakra around the katana easily. It had always required an extra bit of effort on his behalf, the metal was strangely resilient.  
Maybe the metal bonded stronger with chakra or it was just his muscles being sore by the time he had gotten to working with it or it was his own, almost /complete/ lack of chakra that made it harder for him to work with the substance.  
His arms lowered and he set the sword down, rolling his sleeves back up afterwords. He had made so many swords over the years that it had lost something. In his earlier days, making a weapon felt like he was creating a life. Ironically, a life that would go on to take hundreds, maybe even thousands of others. But it felt like something was dying. He had made katanas of various lengths, weights, with metals he had never seen before. Axes with two heads, bearded, poleaxes, halberds, knives, armor, spears, bows, arrows. . .any instrument of war asked of him. He had even tried to branch out and make cutlery.  
It had all been done before.  
But he was /good/ at this.  
Kensei wrapped the sword in the blue cloth he had brought outside earlier and carried it with him inside his apartment. It felt nice to be out of the cold. He placed the katana next to its four exact copies, all of which were wrapped in the same blue cloth, tied with a yellow piece of rope. Kensei calmly made his way into his own bedroom, glad to see the orange blanket he had wrapped Naruto in had remained on the infant. Naruto had a penchant for rolling out of his covers and crying until they were back on him. He sat down next to Naruto, slowly so the moving of the bed wouldn't wake him up. With his eyes trained on the blonde, Kensei felt his heart ache. It didn't hurt, it just felt like it was missing beats. His instincts since taking the child with him had been on 'protect' and 'feed'. It was weird to Kensei – He had only needed to watch over his own life for so long that he had trouble adjusting to taking care of Naruto. When the boy cried, he was there. The first few laughs made him smile in turn. Any sneeze was met with worry and any cough brought fear he had long thought forgotten.  
And for some reason, that made him happy.

* * *

Kensei bowed as deeply as he could. Which wasn't too much, what with the baby still in his arms. He had only met the Kusagakage once and that was when he had to discuss his sword smithing plans with the village itself. He had never met someone who was so famous in the sword world. Mifune. Owner of The Black Swamp. Able to swing a sword so fast that most ninja couldn't even use hand seals around him. He was a legend of legends and even a bit of an idol to Kensei when he had caught a glimpse of the man's sword. In a painting.  
Meeting the man himself was a bit scary.  
"Hello Uzumaki-san. It is a pleasure to meet you. I have always wondered who made those swords my personal guard carry."  
"It is an honor, sir."  
"Ahh, there is no need to be so formal. . .I hear you are looking to adopt a child of Iron blood."  
"That is correct." Kensei said standing upright and cracking his back. There was no need in being proper now. The man /did/ say he didn't need to be formal. And carrying Naruto wasn't much of an issue at first, but the boy wasn't exactly weightless either. Kensei also wondered how the little ball of noise also refused to cry or poop while he was trying to adopt him. It was like he knew.  
"And I take it this is the child?"  
"Yes it is. Little Naruto."  
"Naruto. He will certainly be remembered with a name like that." Mifune smiled and walked closer, taking a look at the blonde baby.  
"Especially with that hair. He won't blend in, but I have a feeling that's a good thing."  
"Well, depends on who you ask, really." Kensei said quickly. He didn't want his possible adopted son to be anything crazy.  
"Ahh, you already seem to be worrying like a parent. Good." Mifune looked at Kensei for a few moments then scratched his head. "When the child grows older, if he wanted to, would you allow him to join our military?"  
Kensei paused. He wondered what happened to the days before the Samurai and the Ninja. Did the people back then push others so hard into a life of murder? Were things simpler back then?  
Probably.  
"I guess it'd be up to the kid, but. . .yeah."  
"Ok. What if he wanted to fight for one of the other elemental nations?"  
"Sir?"  
"What if he grew attached to Kusa. . .wanted to be a ninja. Would you let him?"  
"I. . .guess I would. Whatever he wants to do when he's older, that's his decision."  
"Word of advice, never say things like that to a leader of a village. You're lucky ours takes the neutral route." Before Kensei could speak, Mifune smirked and shook his head.  
"There won't be much of a worry about Naruto, however. I can sense him from here. . .either he was born with broken chakra passages or it happened during the attack his parents died in. . .he will never be a ninja."  
Kensei didn't know how to take that information initially. Being raised to see military service as a major career path and knowing that was closed to Naruto /did/ hurt him. But it also made him feel relaxed. The chances of the boy growing up in a world of death and mayhem could be averted easily now.  
"Will that affect him much?" Kensei knew nothing about chakra. Once it was discovered that he was utterly devoid of the stuff himself, he committed most of his life to not caring unless it bothered him. Which it did when he learned about chakra-infused metal. Even then, he still knew nothing.  
"It won't hurt him, if that's what you're asking. However, he will never be able to use his powers to their fullest potential. He might not even be able to use them if he doesn't learn proper control. It would be akin to a civilian with sealing capabilities." Mifune watched the infant with a passive stare. It was strange; the boy held large amounts of chakra inside of him, but it never seemed to go anywhere. To those who could feel chakra, it was like being in constant anticipation. Anxiety. All that build-up but for nothing.  
"Good. I was worried he would be running around the world trying to spin. . .water dragons or whatever the hell those people do."  
Mifune stopped himself from laughing, but barely. "Well, it is obvious to see you care about the health of Naruto and his future. . .and that's all I need."  
"So. . ."  
"So you should change his last name. Naruto Taro just sounds silly."  
"Yeah." Kensei felt something strange in his chest. Like his heart was sore, but not in a bad way. Like it was proud. Or excited. Or some emotion he couldn't really process easily. Which made a rather long list.  
"Naruto Uzumaki sounds way less retarded."

* * *

**Well, hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new fanfic. I'm hoping to knock out at least 10k words a chapter on this, which is a very big departure from my usual way of doing things. I have many, many plans and ideas already fleshed out for "Gunsmith", and that means regular uploads. However, I am also currently back in classes at college and in the process of getting a job, so there will be times where the next upload is a little late.  
If you're one of my "Drunken Stupor" regulars, don't worry, I'll be working on that too, but as I've mentioned about forty times. . .that's my experimental and 'artsy' stuff. When I hit a block, it really stops the whole thing for me.**

**Please, leave a comment telling me what you liked, hated or just saying hey. I'm pretty cool about whatever.**

**-Constantine**

"**It may be the wrong decision, but fuck it, it's mine."- House of Leaves, Mark Danieleski**

**Hey, so this is RoM here. I'm currently looking into classes and jobs too, so you'll have to bear with me. I help Con write his stuff, and edit it mostly. Ideas are from both of us though! Anyways, like Con said, we've hit a block with Drunken Stupor, and then we decided to start this beast of a story all of a sudden so enjoy and cut us some slack m'kay?**

**"It might just be water... BUT THAT'S ALL YOU NEED! WAHAHAHAHAHAH! WATER IS LIFE! BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!" - -Reader-of-Many-**


	2. Promises

**Disclaimer: Constantine and RoM do not own Naruto. Constantine owns his OCs, however.**

* * *

******Chapter 2**

**Promises**

* * *

"Ken-chan! I have to use the potty!"  
Kensei's eyes opened slowly and he groaned, leaning up in his bed. His brain ached and throbbed. He must have slept four hours before Naruto managed to wake himself up. At least this time he /had/ woken up before he needed to use the bathroom. Kensei stood up and cracked his back, feeling his left pant leg being pulled quickly.  
"Ken. Chan. I. Have. To. Potty!"  
He looked down at his adopted son of five years. He had grown from the small bundle of yellow and tears. And poop.  
Now he was two feet, maybe even three feet tall. His blonde hair had grown into a mess of untamed yellow, which Naruto refused to let Kensei cut. Anytime he brought scissors near the kid's head he freaked out and started crying and throwing wild punches which were getting closer and closer to the one weak spot all grown men have.

He had tried to instill as much respect into the boy as he could, but it tended to go in one ear and out the other. The same went for 'quiet time'. Those words just didn't make sense to Naruto.  
"Alright boy, I heard you. Go on, give it a go and if you miss, don't worry about it."  
"Ok Ken-chan!" The orange and blonde blur took off down the hall, feet pattering against the wood floor before he heard the door slam. He didn't understand what about orange Naruto found attractive, but once he had seen it, everything the boy wanted had to be in some variant of the color. Pants, shirts, coats, hats, pajamas, underpants.

He was fine with Naruto having an orange coat and shirt, but he drew the line there. Everything else had to 'be normal.' Greys, blues, blacks, whites, tans. Things that blended into a crowd.  
Kensei guessed it had something to do with his own life back in Kusagakure. Anything other than earth tones got you looked at. And that wasn't something you wanted. Kensei's most rebellious piece of clothing back when he was growing up had been a blood red shirt he frequently hid under a black coat. To him, it was a way of telling his village that he was different. That he wasn't going to be stuck in the little village. That he was going to matter. That he was going someplace.

And they often did go someplace. Some places to be exact. Over the past five years, he had taken Naruto on every trip out of Wave. Konoha, Kiri, Suna. The thirty year old had made sure that wherever they managed to travel, Naruto was taken care of first.  
"Ken-chan! I did it!" He heard the door open. Naruto never called him 'Dad'. He had tried to get him to, but once a customer had called him Kensei in front of his son, it was 'Ken-chan' from that day forth.  
It brought up mixed feelings for the man. Kensei shook his head and walked down the hall as Naruto held his arms out for a hug.  
"And I didn't miss this time!"  
"That's my boy." He smirked and picked Naruto up, walking into the bathroom.  
"See? It's all on the potty this time!"  
". . .yeah. . .I see."

"KEN-CHAANNN! What is this thingy?!"  
"That's a set of tongs."  
"Tawungs. What are Tauwngs?"  
"Tongs. They're what I use to hold hot metal so I don't get burned."  
". . .They look like the things you hold clothes with on that line thingy outside with all my underpants!"  
". . .Clothes-pins."  
"Clothes-tawungs!"  
"Pins."  
"KEN-CHAAANNN! I have to pee. No wait, I don't."

"Ken-chan., I want some tawungs!"  
"Naruto, you're not old enough to use those. I don't even think you can lift them."  
"KEN-CHAAAN!" Naruto started crying, lifting his hands up to his eyes and weeping. His breath hitched every two seconds, like he couldn't get air fast enough into his lungs while he was whining.  
"Ok ok ok! Shit, kid, take the damn tongs."

"Yay! Thanks Ken-chan!" Naruto immediately stopped crying and dragged the wrought-iron tongs off of the anvil, the weight too much for him. They clanged against the ground, Naruto holding onto the one lose arm of the tongs that were closest to his hands. He tried to pick it up, but his muscles failed him halfway, the clang sound echoing his mistake. Naruto stood there, staring at the tongs. He then immediately ran in the opposite direction, dragging them across the cement as he did, the grinding, skittering and occasional pinging noise making Kensei wince.

Naruto did this for a full hour.  
And then, just like that, he stopped, letting the tongs fall to the ground and walking over to Kensei.  
"Ken-chan, I have to pee again."

* * *

". . . . . .Why do you hate me?"  
"I don't hate you Ken-chan, I love you!" Naruto answered worriedly. It was almost as if the prospect of sarcasm was unknown to a five year old. Then again, it probably /was/ lost on a five year old. Even if you explained what sarcasm was, they wouldn't retain that information or it would be misused. It took a few tries before Kensei had learned that part of parenting.  
"I know kid, and I love you too. So you said you had to pee?"  
"I did, but I don't have to anymore!" He said happily. Kensei sighed, smiling. Looks like he was good for an hour.  
"I have to poop now!"

"And that's how you flush a toilet."  
"Cool! Look at the water swirl!"  
"Yep, but don't touch that stuff. You'll get sick. Wash your hands, Naruto."  
"Ok! Hey Ken-chan, where does the poo go?" The little boy stood up on his tippy toes to wash his hands, wiping what excess water he had on his pants.

". . .someplace called a sewer."  
"What about the pee?"  
"Same place."  
"Where does that go?"  
"A bigger sewer."  
"Where does /that/ go?"  
"I don't know. Like. . .the river or ocean or something."  
"Where does /that/ go?"  
"Depends on the river or the ocean."  
"What's a river? And a ocean?"  
"A river is water that runs a narrow path. Usually comes from a spring or when ice and snow melts someplace higher up. You should know this, we go by it on the way to town."  
"Oh yeah! What about a ocean? What's that?"

"It's like. . .a super big puddle. And it covers most of the Earth. It's what the boats in town float on."  
"Coooool. . . ." Naruto seemed to try and piece together most of what he was just told. Kensei could almost watch the cogs in his brain working. It was like an active process for Naruto to picture what he was told before it became fact.  
"What's a Earth?"  
Kensei hit his head on the wall nearest to him. He had a question too. One he asked the spirits:

'When will he stop asking me questions?'

* * *

"And that. . .is what fire is."  
"Cool! Ken-chan, what do you do?"  
"Hmm?"  
"Like. . .why do you hit those. . .metal sticks that make a swoard and all the water that goes swoosh and stuff?"  
"I'm a smith, Naruto. It's my job."  
"What's a jobe?"  
"Job. It's what people do to make money."  
"I want a job!"  
"Heh, alright kid. . .what do you wanna do when you get older?"  
"I wanna hit things and play with the water that goes woosh- I mean swoosh- and stuff like you do!"  
"You want to be a smith?"  
"Yea-yea-yea-yeeaa! I want to be a smith like you, Ken-chan!"  
Kensei coughed once, trying to hold in his laughter. Naruto had a smile on his face, but his eyes were all business. He could tell Naruto was already making one of his many 'life-time promises'. This one was to himself, however, and that made Kensei proud.

"Alright kid. I'll teach you how to smith. It won't be easy. It's going to be a lot of work, and it doesn't just end when you sleep. This isn't a job you just get to learn and forget about. It's a career."  
"What's-"  
"A career is a job you stick with until you /die/." Kensei stated, knowing that at least for now, the explanation would last.  
"Once you agree to be a smith, you can't take that back." Naruto's eyes were wide. He was essentially being told what his future was if he said 'yes'.

"But. . .I. . .what if I'm not good at it!?" His words were quick and full of doubt. He didn't want to let Kensei down.  
"That's ok Naruto, no one's good at anything the first time. And what do we call that?"  
"Practice!"  
"Practice. . .I think you'd make a fine smith."  
"Yeah! I wanna make swoards and axes and bigger swoards and. . .even bigger axes!"  
"It's settled then. You'll be a smith."  
"Yay! Thank you, Ken-chan!" He ran over and hugged his adoptive father's leg. Kensei chuckled and picked Naruto up, hugging the blonde with one arm while Naruto adjusted to trying to hug Kensei's chest. This was what Kensei hoped having a child would be like. You take care of them, you try and point them in the right direction and if you weren't a shitty parent, they reminded you with hugs.  
"Hey Ken-chan."  
"Yeah Naruto?"  
"Where do babies come from?"

* * *

Tingting-Twang.  
Tingting-Twang.  
Tingting-Twang.  
Kensei kept bringing his hammer into the heated metal, watching it fold slowly and straighten. He could see Naruto standing on his toes trying to watch Kensei work, following every swing of the hammer.  
"Ken-chan, why are you making it like that?"  
"Because. . .Naruto-" Kensei spoke between hits. "- by folding. . .the metal. . .it becomes. . .stronger." After a few more hits he stopped, using his tongs to carry the crudely formed blade back to his furnace and heating it up.

"A katana is graded by the metals used, the amount of folds and the amount of metals as well as how they are wrapped. In all of those, more is better." Naruto jogged over to the furnace and watched the light red stick grow orange and brighter.  
"Why doesn't it just turn into soup?"  
"You mean liquid. It's because metal has a higher melting point than most other objects. Different metals have different melting points. Ones that take longer to melt are usually stronger."  
". . .Whats the strongest?" Naruto asked, semi-entranced with the fire.  
"Titanium. Very rare. Chakra-infused metal can be stronger, but as far as natural materials go, Titanium."  
"Tietanieaniaum? Tietanium? Titlelanium?"  
"Ti."  
"Ti!"  
"Tani"  
"Tani!"  
"Ummmmmm."  
"Ummmmmm!" Naruto laughed, jumping up and down.  
"Alright, now say it all at once."  
"Ti. . .tanium!"  
"Perfect!" Kensei pulled the molten steel out of the furnace and placed it carefully on the anvil. "Now I don't just make swords, Naruto. I make anything that requires metal. What else can you think of is made of metal?" He started hitting the steel, folding the blade over like he did previously. Naruto hopped up and down, closing his eyes.

"Ummm. . .Ummm.. .forks!"  
"Good, what else?"  
"Spoons! Knifes! Pots! Pans! Axes! Yeah yeah yeah! Axes!"  
"You really like axes, don't you?"  
"Yeah! Chop chop chop!"  
"What else do you like?" Kensei already knew the list.  
"Ramen! Orange! 'sposions! Frogs!"  
"What about Toads?"  
"What's a toad?"  
"It's like a frog."  
"Then yes! Also I like that clang noise that happens when you hit things with the hammer. And I like Ken-chan!" Naruto beamed up at Kensei, still hopping.

"Kid. . .Seriously, you and I need to go into town more. Girls are going to be all over me, what with the single father and cute son thing we have going."  
"Ewwwwww! I don't like girls! They're weird! And gross!"  
"Eh, you say that now. . .wait 'til you're my age."  
"But I'm not eleventy billion!"  
". . . . . .Naruto, I'm thirty."  
"Eleventy billion." He stated as though it were fact.  
". . .sure. Why not. . ." Kensei sighed in frustration as he finished hitting the half-formed sword. With a dunk in the chemical water, he figured that was enough for today. They had food to buy.

* * *

"I can see the boats from here!" Naruto called from atop Kensei's shoulders. He was always excited to be in the town itself. Hell, he was always excited. It was the only thing that annoyed Kensei about the boy. He would run, skip, jump, bounce, question everything, talk at all hours of the day, grab whatever he could get his hands on and either throw it, swing it or drag it someplace and almost as soon as he had decided upon something, his brain seemed to give up and reboot. Whatever ideas he previously had wiped clean and replaced with new, far more hyper-active ones. But there was an entirely different thought process too. It was mildly frightening to Kensei how different his mind worked at times.  
Naruto found out what the word 'promise' meant, and it burrowed deep inside his skull. It managed to stick and never fade. Much like whatever he promised.

He never took the word lightly: Whatever he said he promised to do was as good as done. Getting him /to/ promise was relatively easy as well. Kensei didn't know if it was that whole 'childhood innocence' thing people talked about or if Naruto was just naturally trusting, but he saw the best in everyone. You could have punched a puppy in the snout and he would still find some way to see the good in you.  
And strangely enough, he'd pull that good to the surface.  
Like the 'unique' nickname Naruto had given to "Ken-chan", his promise-oriented mindset brought up strange feelings of deja-vu.

* * *

Kensei fell to the ground, out of breath. Physical activity was not exactly his forte. Especially running. He just never got the hang of it, the whole act involved far too much energy just to do something mildly faster than walking. Then again, he was in an academy primarily made for ninja-in-training. He had originally asked his father to put him in a trade school, but after much coercion from his dad and threats of bodily harm from Kasumi, he was a 'proud' student in Kusagakure's only Shinobi Academy.  
Whatever excuse he managed to give, it didn't change the fact he was an average student with average scores and sore muscles every day. Chakra didn't really run in his family, he didn't have a bloodline power or even muscles. He was lean. The only thing he had going for him was how fast he could use a kunai.  
He had much practice hiding and quickly exchanging knives with students when they were buying the weapons from him. Kensei guessed it was a positive by-product.  
"Aww, is my little Ken-chan tired?" He heard a light thump to his side, Kensei's eye's still looking up at the sky.

"Just. . .a little." He managed to get out. Kensei caught himself suddenly trying to breath slower and less embarrassing in front of Kasumi. It was pathetic: She could run the entire length of the village twice and not even remotely seem winded. Maybe focusing on Taijutsu helped.  
"That's alright. It just means we'll have to start jogging together on our days off. Don't want you getting flunked for not being able to pass the physical exam, that'd just be sad!"  
"Agreed." Kensei brought his hands up to his forehead and covered his eyes for a moment before wiping the sweat away.

"So. . .are you busy tomorrow night?" He heard the voice next to him ask in a low tone. He could imagine the red on her face. And knew she would punch him for noticing if he /did/ turn towards her.  
"My dad wanted me to go with him to Iron this week, so I was supposed to start packing tonight."  
"Ahh. Nevermind then-"  
"But it's cool. I wanted to stay home this time anyways. Maybe the old man could find himself a lady if I wasn't always 'cramping his style'. Like he had any or something." Kensei smirked, hearing a light giggle. "So yeah, I'm free."  
"Cool."  
". . .What did you want to do?" Kensei asked hesitantly. This was very strange waters they were treading in. When one of his customers asked how things were with his 'girlfriend', Kensei was confused at first. He only had one friend who was a girl.  
And then he wasn't confused. He was nervous.

"I don't know. Whatever really. I haven't seen you too much outside of school lately."  
Entirely his fault.  
"Y-yeah, sorry about that, dad's having me run errands around the shop. Uhh. . .hang out at my place?"  
"That sounds boring!" He could hear the huff she spat out afterwords.  
"I have a house to myself and a fully stocked liquor cabinet. /How/ in the /hell/ is that boring?"  
"Oh shit, you're right! My bad!" Kasumi laughed.

"S'ok." Kensei heard the whistle, knowing it meant they had to make it back to class. "Shit." He muttered and stood up, his bones and muscles cursing back at him, burning with pain, promising to come back with twice the fury tomorrow.  
At least he'd be able to drink.  
"Hey, Ken-chan-"  
Kensei turned his head.

* * *

"Ken-chan, what's a 'rack'?"  
"The hell did you hear that from?" Kensei's mind caught the question, pulling him abruptly back to the present. Like usual, he took a second to get readjusted to his surroundings.  
"That weird old guy over there said that and he pointed at that lady over there and he said it and I wanna know what a rack is now." The boy always did have obscenely good hearing. He pointed at an elderly man across the street from them, who in turn was looking at a young woman close to Kensei's age that. . .Kensei had to agree, had a very nice- he closed his eyes and shook his head lightly. Those were thoughts for a lecherous old man. Not him. At least not in public and with his son around.  
Kensei's brain clicked in a very mischievous way. A way he had long since forgotten about.

". . .go ahead and ask the young lady, Naruto. I'm sure she won't mind. Oh, and be sure to tell her about the nice old man that said that." Kensei calmly helped Naruto off of his shoulders and let him go, watching the young boy take off down the street. He was a little envious of Naruto; the boy had never seemed to tire. . .well, until /exactly/ nine at night. He also seemed to wake up /exactly/ at nine in the morning. It was like his brain had some kind of flawlessly designed internal clock.

Kensei saw Naruto tugging the young woman's arm lightly, his little mouth moving and his hand raising to point at the elderly man. Kensei could see the quick look of shock the girl had. And then it was replaced by a very serene smile. It was a little too nice. And then Naruto looked back at his father and turned his hand to point at Kensei. The woman's eyes locked with his and he could swear he had felt this kind of fear before. It was something akin to being close to a bear. And a lion. And a cliff. That wonderful feeling of inevitable doom.  
The woman then took Naruto's hand and they made their way towards Kensei. He could feel his lifespan slowly growing shorter. 'This is how it ends. I live thirty years, accomplish this little and I die. . .because my adopted son. . .is stupid. Yep. Dad woulda been proud.'

Kensei took quick note of the girl's features – he might need to flatter her in order to not be maimed. She had long, black hair, deep brown eyes and was shorter than Kensei by a foot. She also was two shades paler than him, but that was common around Wave: He left the land so often the overcast never really got to him. As she stopped in front of him, Naruto smiled broadly and held his arms out to Kensei, signaling he wanted to be picked up. Kensei obliged, assuming that the woman wouldn't hit him in while he was carrying a child. She had a calm smile on her own face, watching the two boys.  
"Ken-chan! I know what a rack is now! But I'm not supposed to say it. Ever. Jiyoon-chan told me not to."

Kensei turned from his son to the woman. "And she was right. It's not really a nice word."  
The woman laughed slightly, turning her at attention to Kensei now. "And yet instead of just telling your brother that, you just let him go off and ask me."  
"Ah, well that's half the problem. He's actually my son."  
"Oh, I'm sorry I just assumed with him calling you Ken-chan. . ."  
"Don't worry about it. He's always done that. Kinda wish he'd call me dad but hey. . .what're you gonna do." He smirked.

"So. . .would his mom be angry with him knowing that particular word when he gets home?"  
Kensei's smirk faded slightly. "She's. . .not with us. Well, him.-"  
"Ken-chan adopted me!" Naruto shouted happily. Kensei had guessed that while the boy wasn't exactly /excited/ his family had been taken from him, as far as he was concerned or even remembered, he only had one dad. And that was Kensei.  
". . .That's actually really sweet." Jiyoon stated, her eyes soft as they glanced over Kensei. "I'm sorry, with all this talk, I haven't properly introduced myself. Jiyoon Takomi." She bowed to Kensei. He returned it.

"Kensei Uzumaki. And this little bundle of crazy is my son, Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto smiled broadly, not bowing. "I'm five!" He shouted, as if he was asked for his age. Kensei covered his eyes with his hand. 'That boy is a down right embarrassment sometimes.'  
"So you let your five year old son ask me about the meaning of the word 'rack'. . ." What was once a happy smile returned to what Kensei had dubbed 'The Female Death Stare'. Calm, polite, happy at first glance, but with a subtle feeling of doom.

"I. . .didn't really. . .think this through that much. . .uhh. . .did I mention I'm a smith? And I can make things like pots? Pans? Teapots?" There was only one thing Kensei knew of to get out of being maimed to death by an angry woman: Bribery.  
". . .Actually, a teapot would be nice." A look of surprise was now on Jiyoon's face. "I work at the tea shop across the street and I was going to try and replace one of our old ones."  
'Thank Kami. Or God. Or whatever magical floating-thingy that helps me out in times like these. I knew training to be a blacksmith would save my life.'  
"Well then, you're in luck. I'll make it steel, polished, put a spout on that bad-boy. . .the whole works." He watched Jiyoon laugh slightly. "And all it took was a threatening glare."

"That sounds about right." He coughed once, trying to mask his own laugh and flushed cheeks. "So I'll stop by next week- that is if you're open. Or even working. Or you want to wake that long." Kensei's mind was pushing very strange thoughts into his head which made it hard for him to talk. It had been a while since he had spoken to a girl like Jiyoon. Or a girl. About anything, really.  
"Perfect." Her smile faded slightly. "I'm sorry to cut our conversation short, but I do need to take care of a few things. It was a pleasure to meet you." She bowed once more to Kensei and Naruto. "Bye Naruto-kun. Ken-/chan/." And with that, she walked across the street. Kensei's brain stopped when he heard the way she had called him 'Ken-chan.'

'. . . She's an angel.' He said to himself, watching her walk away.  
And then, for the first time in many years, Kensei knew he would have to dress nicely.  
And then, for the first time in many years, he watched as an old man was beaten to near-death by a woman.  
And for once, it wasn't him.

* * *

"Ken-chan! Someone's at the door!" Naruto stumbled into the living room, a big smile on his face. He was almost jumping up and down. He always loved when someone visited. Kensei shook his head and walked down his hall, the blonde and orange mass that was his son close behind. Kensei opened the door slowly, prepared to say hello, but the words got stuck.

A Kiri-ninja was on the other side: Kensei knew he was from Kirigakure by the tilted headband covering the left side of his forehead. The man- if Kensei could call him that: He looked closer to nineteen or twenty – had short, black hair and Kensei guessed he would have had black eyebrows. If he had eyebrows. His nose, mouth and neck were covered in bandages. Other than that, he seemed to be dressed like a jounin: Gray flak vest, black sleeveless shirt, black pants and gray sandals. Color-coded for Kiri. He also had the Kiri-tailored kunai holder that Kensei knew very well. Slanted with three slots, housing a far more jagged and dagger-like kunai, more akin to a knife. But despite this, he seemed to be missing something. Like part of him wasn't there.

"Kensei Uzumaki?" The gruff voice asked, a dead tone behind it. It reminded Kensei of a serial killer he had seen when he was younger and his father was trading with a village-run prison. That weird sense of death. Like a pressure surrounding you that scared you and made you feel uneasy. And sick. Kensei stood in front of Naruto, making sure the boy was close by.  
"Yeah, I'm Kensei. . .the hell wants to know?" Kensei spat the words out. He didn't know the man, and for all he knew, he could be like one of the few psychos that asked him for weapons. Kensei put his hand calmly into his pocket as he waited for the man to answer, the handle of his switchblade now in his palm.  
"Zabuza Momochi." The man bowed slightly. "And while I appreciate the caution... I'm not here for something like that." Either Kensei was sloppy or this guy was good. As good as the horror stories he had heard about that name.

"Looks like the Demon of the Hidden Mist has me at his mercy."  
'Be friendly. Be funny. Be polite. Don't aggravate the man.'  
Naruto tugged Kensei's arm once. "What's a demon?" Zabuza chuckled and looked down at Naruto. "Me." The answer didn't seem to register the young boy.  
"...so what's a demon do then, mister?" And why is your face wrapped, did you get hurt? And why don't you have any eyebrows?"  
'Yeah, why doesn't he?' Kensei thought, turning from his son to Zabuza.  
"Cooking accident." Zabuza quickly stated, his eyes closing in what Kensei assumed was a moment of sadness. Zabuza shook his head and looked back at Kensei. "But that's besides the point. . .I was hoping I could have a word with you." Kensei thought for a few moments, then sighed and rubbed his forehead. He knew this was the authentic "Demon of the Mist", and from what he could tell, the man had ample skill to just have killed Kensei whenever he pleased. The fact he didn't spoke volumes about him.

"Fine. Come in." Zabuza bowed once more then made his way inside, slowly walking into the house and the living room. He sat down at the table, quickly followed by Naruto who sat across from him, excitedly bouncing up and down in his chair.  
"Hey mister, what's your name again?"  
"Zabuza." He answered, watching the child.  
"Hey mister Zabuza, do you like orange?"  
"It's alright, I guess."  
"What about frogs?"  
". . .they're alright."  
"What about-"  
"Naruto, stop bugging the man." Kensei sat down next to his son, rustling his hair. Naruto laughed and kept bouncing in his chair, looking at his father then the new man in their house. "Now I have to talk to our guest. . .after we're done, I'll cook you some ramen if you wait in your room like a good-" He never had to finish his words, Naruto was already scrambling to the back of the house as soon as the word ramen was used. A usual bribe.  
"Let's just get down to it. Why are you here?" Kensei stated, watching Zabuza closely. He still had his reservations about him.

"Very well. I was hoping you would craft a weapon for me."  
". . .Aren't you a member of the Seven Swordsmen?"  
"Yes, I am." Zabuza smiled behind his bandages.  
"Then where's your sword?"  
"I was asked to leave it in our sword-bearer's hands while I took a leave of absence. The weapon you would be making actually wouldn't be /mine./"  
"Then who would it be for?"  
"My apprentice."  
"Alright. . .hold on. A member of Kirigakure. . .a ninja – who is also one of the village's strongest swordsman group and talked about like a real life demon – wants me to make his apprentice a weapon. The man who /killed/ one hundred students before he was even a member of the academy and probably killed close to another hundred so far over his time in ANBU. Yeah. . .that seems like a smart thing to do. Make a weapon for a mass murderer." Kensei had a sarcastic smile on his face. "Think I'll pass."  
". . .I thought a smith such as yourself would have seen my actions for what they were, not as they appear." Zabuza seemed disappointed. "What I did in my earlier years was not an act of blood lust as I make it seem. . .it was merely a way to show my village that our traditions, while tested, sometimes need to be altered. Or removed." Kensei thought for a moment.

". . .I'm sorry, I'm still getting over the murdering thing. Could you explain it better?"  
"Surely you've heard of the results of my 'graduation.'"  
"Yeah, they stopped all pitting of students to the death as their final exam."  
"One hundred students die in one year. Even without me, there would have been fifty dead. One hundred the next year. One hundred and fifty the third." Zabuza counted the years on his fingers. "Since the exam was canceled, five hundred and fifty more people are alive. Five hundred and fifty /friends/ are still here with their teammates because of me." Kensei never thought of it like that. "A village where we only had fifty active ninja -who had just murdered their friends to pass- to replace those that retired or died each year now has one hundred happy and mentally competent graduates." Zabuza's words never faltered. Kensei knew he had done the math over the years and made a decision that even /he/ had to argue was for the better.

". . .Then why play it off like you did? Like you killed them just for the hell of it?"  
"Fear works better than any ideal. Could you imagine a council talking about what I did? The nightmares they must have had about our future generations being a legion of psychopaths? That works better than any altruistic speech I've heard."  
"I understand the reasoning. . .but still. . ."  
"And I understand your apprehension. . .but don't think of this as helping me. Just. . .think of it as helping my apprentice."  
"With what?"  
"The next generation of Kirigakure needs to be able to fight against the corrupt of this world. They need to have the proper tools to defend themselves with."  
"There are a lot of other weapons and blacksmiths you can buy from."  
Zabuza smiled once more, the bandages moving up with the corners of his mouth.  
"But then they wouldn't be an Uzumaki blade."  
". . .I'll need to meet him." Kensei said, already resigning himself to the next few months being filled with crafting a weapon. Zabuza nodded and stood up, holding his hand out for Kensei to shake.  
"I'm sure Kai would love to meet you."

* * *

"Do you like ramen?" Naruto asked the newcomer, staring at him intently  
"Yes. It's one of my favorite foods." The young boy answered.  
"What about frogs?"  
"No, not really."  
"What about swoards?"  
"Swords? Yes."  
"What's your favorite color?"  
"Blue."  
"What's-"  
"Naruto! What the hell kid, I thought I /just/ got done asking you not to bug our guests!" Kensei picked his son up, ruffling his hair and tossing him up once before catching him. The boy laughed and swung his arms around as he was caught. "Again! Again!" Kensei obliged, throwing Naruto into the air once more and catching him, the whole time Naruto laughed and flailed. "Again!" Kensei set Naruto down carefully and shook his head.

"Sorry kiddo, but I have to speak with Kai and Zabuza for a moment. After, maybe you can show Kai your smith tools." Naruto's eyes brightened and he ran outside. "Yay!" His screaming carried out the house with him. Kensei laughed nervously, looking at the two Kiri-nin in front of him.  
"Sorry. What can I say. . .boy is energetic."  
"It's fine, some kids are like that. Some are a bit more stoic." Zabuza nudged Kai's arm with his shoulder, the boy looking embarrassed.  
"Sensei-"  
"Hey, wouldn't kill you to be happy for once. It would be creepy seeing you smile, but I'm fairly certain it wouldn't kill you. . .Ok, so one in ten shot it won't kill yo-"  
"Sensei!" Kai punched Zabuza's arm, warranting a light chuckle from the elder ninja.

'Elder.' Kensei said sarcastically to himself. After a short conversation with Zabuza, he found our he was right: The 'Demon of the Hidden Mist' was only nineteen. His apprentice Kai only at the ripe age of thirteen. Kai, for all intents and purposes, was almost a mirror image of Zabuza, and while he tried to hide it, Kensei could tell the boy idolized him. He kept his hair short like Zabuza, but it was brown and unlike his 'sensei', he had a pair of brown eyebrows as well. His clothing consisted of a gray flak vest, blue shirt hidden under a black, cloth hunting coat, gray pants and black sandals.

He also draped bandages around his neck similar to a scarf, and his forehead protector calmly rested on his right bicep, angled sideways. He hadn't seen the boy smile other than his initial 'hello'. He was almost constantly wearing a look of complacency. Like he was just there. It was a little unnerving. It was also unnerving to see Zabuza crack jokes. The swordsman had laughed and smiled – at least what Kensei guessed was a smile behind his bandaged face – almost the entire time his apprentice was there. It was a strange sight.  
"Alright Kai. . .before I make you this weapon, I have a few questions and I want you to answer them truthfully and as much as you can." Kensei watched the young boy turn from Zabuza back to him and nod.

"Ok."  
"Ok. Why do you want a weapon?"  
". . .to protect myself."  
"Not good enough. What do you plan to do once you have this weapon?"  
". . .what do you mean?"  
"Don't worry about what I mean. . .just answer the question. If I made you a sword- or a spear or whatever the hell – what would you do with it?"  
Kai looked back at Zabuza who just pointed at Kensei, signaling he wasn't going to give him the answer. After a few moments of contemplation, he answered.  
"Protect myself and my people."  
"From what?"  
"Everything. The tainted, the weak, anyone that tries to harm my village. I want to make Kirigakure a place people /want/ to live. I don't want our land to be a horror-story of what happens when ninja 'lose it' or where all the villagers are insane. I want to make it a proper place to be."

". . .Good answer." Kensei smirked, watching Kai almost smile himself. "Now for a far more important question. What kind of weapon do you want?"  
"A machete." Kai said quickly. Kensei laughed.  
"Jeeze, someone put some thought into that."  
"A machete? Nice idea kid. Works with your strengths." Zabuza patted Kai's shoulder, the younger boy turning to face him.  
"What strengths?" Naruto said, his head peering from behind the door to the outside. He had managed to sneak back in to hear the others talk.

"Silent Killing." Zabuza said. "Little Kai here was real quick on picking it up."  
"What's that?" Naruto said, walking back inside holding his arms out for Kensei to pick him up. He sighed and lifted Naruto onto his lap, the blonde watching his new 'friends'.  
"It's a Kirigakure specialty. We cover the area in a thick cloud of mist infused with our chakra. Makes it impossible to sense the attacker. If you're good-" Zabuza mussed up Kai's hair, the boy stubbornly pulling away, his face a light red. "Then you can make it so thick no one can see either. And if you're /really/ good, the user can close their eyes and kill their target just by listening for their heartbeat."  
Naruto looked mildly frightened, turning back to Kensei. "Ken-chan, can you do that?"

Kensei shook his head. "No, Naruto. I don't have much chakra. And what I do have I can only use on a few techniques I learned back in Kusagakure."  
"What about me?! Can I do ninja-stuff?!" He shouted happily, imagining all the cool things he'd be able to do.  
"Uhh. . .we'll talk about that when you're older, Naruto."  
"But-"  
"Please. . .Naruto."  
". . .Fine." The blonde looked down, mumbling to himself. Kensei tickled Naruto's sides, the young boy laughing immediately.  
"No being sad. Ever!" Zabuza shook his head lightly.  
"So how long does it take to make a machete?"

Kensei stopped tickling Naruto and set him down, watching as he ran back to his room, probably to play with one of his toys. Quite a few of them had been made by Kensei himself, the smith also having a bit of skill in whittling. He turned back to Zabuza, scratching his neck and stretching his free arm into the air.  
"Depends, but I can usually get a short sword out in about a month, month and a half." Zabuza nodded, pulling out a leather handbook from his pocket and a pen from his vest, writing a bit onto a piece of paper. He tore it out and slid it across the table.

"I hope that's enough money." Kensei took the paper and looked at it.  
'Holy shit, Kiri must really pay these guys.'  
"Yeah, that'll do."  
Zabuza turned to Kai. "We'll get a room at the hotel in town, I'll train you in the forest while we wait-"  
Kensei cleared his throat for a moment.  
"Um. . .actually. . .you could stay here. I just. . .have a small favor."  
Small favor, big favor, same difference really. It's still a favor.

* * *

Kensei looked at himself once more in the mirror. He had to admit, he looked so different even /he/ could barely tell it was him staring back. Kensei had shaved his beard /off/. Usually it was kept short or when he was too busy, the unkempt red mass reached 'hermit proportions'. Not today. Today his face felt cold. And mildly itchy. He was wearing a rather nice blue shirt that had a small red symbol for Kusagakure on it hidden under his gray coat. He also wore his usual gray pants and his favorite black boots.

It had been a week since the two Kirigakure ninja had taken up residence in his home, and Kensei had to admit, it made his life a bit more relaxing. From the moment he had taken Naruto to be his son, he never had anyone watch the young boy; Naruto stayed by his side when he was working on a new weapon, went on trips into or out of town and even his talks with the various council members or prospective buyers. Now, he had Kai and Zabuza to preoccupy the boundless tornado of energy that was Naruto. Zabuza seemed to love it; He was always a willing party to indulge Naruto in one of his stories or when he wanted to show the older man a blacksmith tool – of Kensei's – that he claimed was his own.

Kensei and the swordsman also had frequent talks about the current state of Kiri and the path of the newer ninja. Zabuza was hopeful, but Kensei had seen enough in his years traveling to know it was still a long way from getting anywhere near peaceful in the elemental nations. The closest he had ever seen to peace was the Land of Iron. Kai made sure the wild mass of questions and tears that was Naruto was fed and even sleeping some nights. The young Kiri-ninja still wasn't much for talking, but he was far from the same stoic, silent boy Kensei had first met.  
Which made Kensei feel all the better with leaving Naruto, for the first time, with his two temporary room-mates. After all, he did have a pretty young woman he needed to deliver a freshly made teapot to. A woman by the name of Jiyoon.

"So you know where the tea shop is, right?"  
"Third street in town from the west, next to the pottery store and across the road from the grocery store."  
"And tonight Naruto's going to 'cook' for you, so make sure he's not screwing around with the burners too much."  
"Kai's going to watch him from the kitchen table. He's been instructed to watch only." Zabuza said turning to Naruto, the boy already a mix of emotions: Anxious to be a 'chef' for the first time in his life but also scared to be left alone.

"Ken-chan, you're not mad at me, right?" Naruto asked, worried.  
"Of course not kid, matter of fact, without you, I wouldn't be able to even see Jiyoon." He smiled and walked over to his son, picking him up and hugging him tightly. He felt two little arms try to wrap themselves around him as well, no where near meeting.  
"I don't want you to go Ken-chan, just get Jiyoon-chan to come visit here! She can meet Zabu and Kai!"

He had since given up on trying to say Zabuza's full name, consistently butchering it at every attempt. Kensei did have to restrain himself from agreeing with Naruto. It hurt him deeply to even think about leaving the house without his son. But this would be good for the two of them, he kept reminding himself. He didn't want Naruto to grow up too reliant on him.  
Kensei sighed heavily and set Naruto down, smoothing his dark red hair back and looking at his son. Tears were already forming in his blue eyes, looking up at Kensei.

"Ken-chaaannn-"  
Kensei picked Naruto up once more and quickly tossed him into the air, Naruto's tears replaced his happy laughing and his arms swinging through the air. He did this twice more before setting Naruto down and ruffling his hair.  
"If you're a good boy, tomorrow we'll have a nice barbeque."  
Naruto's eyes lit up, his mouth opening to speak, he was cut off by Kensei.  
"And ramen." The boy quickly started pushing Kensei's leg, trying to rush him out of the house.  
"Bye Ken-chan! Tell Jiyoon-chan I said hi! And I'll be good! And remember to pick up more ramen for me!" Kensei heard Zabuza laughing, turning back to the elder Kiri-ninja he opened the door before Naruto tried to push him /through/ it.

"I'll be back in a bit."  
"Not too soon, I hope."  
Kensei turned red at that statement and walked out of the house, Naruto running up to him and hugging his leg tightly.  
"I love you daddy." Kensei stopped everything. His breath didn't come out, just stayed in his lungs, trying to help him beat back the tears. He closed his eyes and with much effort, took a deep breath.  
"I love you too-"  
"Remember the ramen!"  
Naruto shouted, already back inside the house, he then slammed the door.  
". . .Naruto."  
His eyebrow twitched.  
Kids. They were weird.

* * *

"Zabu-chaaan, I wanna make my ramen now! Get me the pot!"  
Naruto shouted, jumping up and down in the kitchen. He was still far too young to reach most of the instruments with which to cook, Kensei learning early on that a child around metallic objects made for a lot of noise. The only place he allowed that to happen was outside. Zabuza stood up slowly from his seat on the couch in the living room and made his way into the kitchen. He looked at Kai, the young ninja watching his sensei and the blonde.

". . .you couldn't get it for him, Kai?"  
"Hey, he asked for you."  
Kai smirked, earning him a light smack across the back of the head from Zabuza.  
"Next time I use the pot on you before he cooks with it. Understand?"  
"Ohhh, you're so scary!"  
Kai mocked being frightened, putting his hands in front of himself. Zabuza was unamused.  
"I could always show you exactly how I lost my eyebrows. I believe it actually involved a gas stove like this one. . ." Kai quickly got up and jogged to the pot, putting it atop the stove and starting it for Naruto, patting his head as he did.  
"You need any help Naruto, feel free to ask me instead of Zabu-chan, eh?"

He still had nightmares about the story his master had told him of. Of flames, of grease and of over-cooked pork. Zabuza chuckled and walked back to the couch, sitting down and closing his eyes. It had been a very relaxing week to say the least. Outside of Kirigakure, he didn't need to kill, maim or even train Kai as much as usual. When the two of them were in the building designated for the Seven Swordsman, he constantly had to watch their back: Most of the sword-wielders did not get along. Kisame and Zabuza were the only two that had openly sworn a blood oath to help each other out should the situation call for it.

He didn't have many good memories in his life – most were flashes of bloodshed and hiding, pain associated with practicing his skills – but the few he had that made him happy involved his student or his shark-like friend. Missions spent joking about what body parts they'd lop off of a target, eating barbeque in the forests they camped out in, discussions about their village, their swords, hopes, skills, what they'd like to do with the girls they had seen around Kiri – that was if they weren't deathly afraid of them. He knew that Kisame was one of those rare people he had met in Kiri that gave him hope for fixing the next generation of ninja. Devoted to a cause, whatever it was. With time, they'd be able to do so much for Kirigakure. Of course, he'd have to talk privately with the Fourth Mizukage about their plans, but the time would come for that later on.

"Zabu-chan! I made you ramen!"  
Naruto tugged Zabuza's arm once, a bright smile on his face. He had put a bowl in front of the mist-ninja, which for some reason, wasn't steaming. It actually looked like almost clear water and a semi-solid chunk of noodles with some kind of powder /almost/ submerged in water, but instead was using the floating square of ramen as a form of life raft. Zabuza looked over at Kai who shook his head 'no' and pointed to the kitchen: Somehow, despite only requiring a pot and looking like ramen in water, Naruto had managed to either get Kai to pull every pan, bowl and plate out of the kitchen or he defied the laws of gravity and physics to amass the cookware himself. Zabuza was hard pressed to think of which one being the more likely of the two.

"Uhh. . .I think it needs a little more time, Naruto."  
"Nuh-uh, I made sure it was on there until bubbles started happening and then I poured the bubbly water out and put it normal water and then I put the ramen in and let it sit on the counter and then I put the powder on it and now it's here!"  
He jumped up and down, excited.  
"I made the ramen! Eat it! Eat the ramen! Tell me how awesome I am at making the ramen!"  
Zabuza nervously scratched his head then turned from Naruto to Kai.  
"I'm sorry Naruto, I'm not too hungry. You see, Kai and I had a big lunch today and-"  
Naruto's eyes started to water. And he started to sniffle.

"But. . .I made it."  
"I know, and you did a great job, but-"  
"And Ken-chan's not home and I want him to be home now and-"  
The blonde covered his eyes and started bawling, what little logic his argument had with food somehow transitioned, as most conversations with a child do, into something totally unrelated. And Zabuza might have done a lot of heartless things in his life, but making a child cry was not going to be one of them.

"It's alright Naruto, I'll have some, but I won't be able to eat too much since I'm so full, ok?"  
"Alright!" Naruto quickly wiped his eyes, the same smile on his face now. Zabuza took a deep breath and picked up the chopsticks Naruto had left next to his bowl. He tried, with much difficulty, and managed to pick up the half-falling apart block of ramen, most of the powder sliding into the luke-warm water. He cringed and lifted the noodles up to his mouth, taking a bite and slowly chewing it. Zabuza's eyes opened wide and he looked down at Naruto.

"Jeez kid, this is actually pretty good!"  
"See! I make good ramen!"  
Naruto ran down the hall to his room.  
"I'mma make Ken-chan a drawring about how awesome I am at cooking so he knows how awesome I am!"  
Kai, with a look of surprise on his face looked at his sensei.  
". . .is it really that good?"  
"Yeah, I know, right? For a second I thou-"

Zabuza heard a very distinct growl and stopped eating. He dropped his chopsticks and ramen back into the bowl with a splash and a thud, his eyes staring blankly at a wall. Kai leaned in front of the wall Zabuza was staring at, waving his hand in front of his master's face.  
"Uhhh. . .sensei, are you alright?"  
"Yes. Now if you'll excuse me. . ."

He stood up slowly and made his way down the hall and into the bathroom. And while Naruto happily drew his painting for Kensei, Zabuza felt some of the worst pain he swore he had ever experienced in his entire life. And that included the day he had lost his eyebrows.

* * *

The front door unlocked and opened slowly, Kensei sighing heavily as he made his way into the living room.  
"Hey guys, I'm ba-"  
He was immediately tackled by Naruto. Or he would have been if the boy wasn't so young.  
"Ken-chan! I missed you! And I made ramen and was good so we can have more ramen tomorrow!" Kensei smiled broadly and hugged his son tightly, picking him up and looking at him, not seeing a scrape or even a speck of dirt, he knew the boy had been true to his word. Or he had at least lied very well, and that was just as commendable.

"So where is Zabuza and Kai?"  
"Zabu-chan is still on the potty cause I guess he's sick or something. He barely even got to eat the ramen I made. Annnd Kai-"  
"Is right here."  
The older boy announce, walking down the hall from Naruto's room.  
"I made sure he was occupied. He played with his toys, I read him a story, he was really good."  
". . .and Zabuza?"  
". . .I'd give him another few minutes."  
The boy scratched his head nervously, remembering the sounds of pain he had heard. They were truly nightmarish.  
"Ahh. Well, as long as Naruto wasn't a total whirlwind of destruction and devastation, I guess he gets his special ramen tomorrow."

Naruto hugged his father again, happily shouting. "BBQ ramen! Yes!"  
"Please. . .never talk about ramen again." Zabuza muttered as he walked out of the bathroom and back down the hall. Kensei smirked and set Naruto down.  
"Alright kid, you did good today, but it's getting late, and you know what that means?"  
"Time to sleep?"  
"Time to sleep. Kai'll take you back to your room and I'll be in there shortly, I just need to relax for a little bit, alright?"  
"Ok Ken-chan!" He sped off towards his room before running back and grabbing Kai by the hand, practically dragging the boy with him. "I wanna play with my toys before I have to sleep! Hurry up!" Kai tried to put up a defense, but every time he tried, he was yanked farther down the hall. Kensei sat down on the couch and covered his eyes, holding his hands there for a few moments before he heard Zabuza pull up a chair across from him.  
"I take it that's not the action of a man who had a great time out."  
"No. It is not." Kensei sat up and looked down at his hands, replaying the entire day in his mind.

"First, I barely talked. When I did, I couldn't really say another other than the price of metal and Naruto. I think she found it cute at first but. . .after a while she just seemed irritated. I asked if she wanted to get some food and 'something came up' so I took a walk around the docks. . .got a little drunk. . .and here I am." He closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose.  
"I'm a total disaster when it comes to. . .talking. Always have been. My fiance. . .she never really cared what I talked about, as long as I /talked/. So I'd just ramble about the job, the nations. . .anything. Now. . .it just doesn't work the same. I'm just not good when it comes to women anymore."  
Zabuza laughed once, looking at Kensei for a moment then out the window.

"I know how you feel. I'm not exactly a 'catch' by most women's standards. Truth is, my image of death and destruction works a little too well. I'm the 'Demon of the Hidden Mist'. I'm the man who murdered a graduating class by himself when he was too young to even join the academy. I'm the hunter-ninja, member of the Seven Swordsmen. My teeth under this mask are jagged and sharp, my eyebrows are gone and I'm only 19. Women who know my past run away while the ones who don't take a good look at me and understand something isn't quite right. I don't think I'm really meant to meet anyone like that in my life, but it doesn't stop me from trying. So don't let it stop you, alright?"

". . .yeah." Kensei opened his eyes and scratched his neck twice before turning to Zabuza.  
"But anyways, thanks for watching Naruto. Means a lot to me."  
"No problem. Just. . .teach him how to cook right. Please. For me."  
The two men chuckled. The sound of footsteps interrupted the two men as Kai walked back into the living room, taking a chair by the table.  
"Naruto crashed. Little guy tuckered himself out. I swear, he actually fell asleep standing up."  
Zabuza tried not to laugh, Kensei shaking his head.  
"Yeah, he actually does that fairly often. I'll go tuck him in."

Kensei stood up and nodded to Zabuza as he made his way down the hall and into Naruto's room. Strewn across the floor was action figures and toys as far as the carpeting went. Many- save four – were made by Kensei himself in his downtime between trips to the other elemental nations. He found Naruto, half-sprawled across his bed and on the floor. Kensei lifted Naruto up and onto his bed, pulling the covers over his son and making sure the pillow under his head wasn't about to fall off the bed or anything. Naruto's eyes opened slightly and he hugged Kensei's arm.

"I missed you daddy. Did you say hi to Jiyoon-chan for me?"  
Kensei smiled and sat down on Naruto's bed, next to him. "Yeah, she said hello too."  
". . .don't go anywhere again, daddy. I missed you a lot." Kensei moved a few strands of Naruto's wild blonde hair back behind his ear and kissed his son on the forehead.  
"Alright Naruto. From now on, I won't go anywhere without you."  
"Promise?"  
"Promise."

Naruto smiled, his eyes closing again, he continued to hold onto Kensei's arm. Kensei watched as Naruto calmly stayed asleep, his breathing turning into snoring and finally, he turned onto his side, letting go of his father's arm. Kensei stayed for a few more moments before standing up carefully and making his way out of his son's room, closing the door quietly.

'Promise?'  
'Promise.'  
Kensei ran the words over again in his head. If Naruto never broke a promise, than what example would he be setting for his son if he broke his?

* * *

**Hey guys, it's Constantine here. Took a bit, but I managed to finish the second chapter within a month, at least. As I mentioned, college has been the main factor in keeping me from updating sooner, but I feel like I might be able to crank out at least a chapter of 10k or so a month at a time, minimum. I also had my laptop crash and finally die on me three weeks ago, wiping the entire chapter I was writing. As you can expect, it was a big blow to my writer's ego. However, I managed to scrape up enough money to build a new desktop and here we are. More likely than not, we won't have that issue again, as each chapter is now being backed up after it's written. Also, I messed around with the formatting on this chapter, so tell me if you like it more or less.  
Anyways, I hope you liked the second chapter of this little story and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to PM me or review and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Later guys.**

**-Constantine**

"**True loneliness, I learned that day, isn't the lack of others. It's the lack of others quickly." - The Repossession Mambo, Eric Garcia**


	3. Second Time For Everything

**Disclaimer: Constantine and RoM do not own Naruto. Constantine does own his OCs though.**

**Chapter 3**

**Second Time For Everything**

* * *

"I'm thirty-five now."

Kensei looked out at his forge from the living room of his house. In one hand he held a cup filled halfway with tea, the other lazily placed in his pants pocket.

"I'm old as all hell now. And I'm probably going to choke on applesauce and die in a few years. 'Cause I'm so damn old." Kensei groaned, closing his eyes and muttering a few curses to the spirits.

"Ken-chan, I don't see how being old is so bad. It actually looks like a lot of fun! I mean, you don't have to learn anything new because you already know everything and people respect you more." The deepening voice he had become used to stated from the kitchen.

His son always did look at the brighter parts of life. And getting old to him was just another part in his existence to 'be awesome' at. No matter how much the thought of growing more elderly made Kensei want to punch a hole into his face.

Age had done wonders for Naruto. Over the years, he had calmed down (Kensei wondered who answered his prayers and made a mental note to thank them), and true to his word, the young boy had wanted to learn everything Kensei had to teach him about blacksmithing. The training, while hard, had also instilled the concept of 'work' into Naruto. So Kensei liked to remind him from time to time that he was getting older and 'needed help' with some things. Like making food. Or cleaning the house. Or going into town.

"Not everybody respects you, and over the years you can also amass a number of people that despise you. That and the best years of my life were spent making sure you learned how to /crap/ right."

Naruto laughed.

"Thanks Ken-chan. Every time I take a dump I'll think of you."

Kensei shook his head, a smile coming to his face as he tried not to laugh at the comment. Naruto also seemed to have grasped the concept of sarcasm once he hit the age of eight. And boy, did he take to it like a fish to water.

"Alright kid, what're we doing today? I'm so old I must have forgot." He took a sip of his tea and turned to Naruto.

"Well first off, you're going to shut up with the "old" crap. Second, you're supposed to show me how to make an axehead today!"

Kensei nodded. "Alright, and if we have enough time, I'll show you how to use the miller to make the body of the ax."

Naruto rose his fist up in victory.

"From the moment I was destined to become a smith, this is what I wanted to achieve the most!"

". . .You have really weird goals in life, Naruto."

". . .I learned from the best, duh."

Kensei finished the rest of his tea and set the cup down on the table, motioning for Naruto to follow him as he made his way outside. The blonde calmly walked after his father, making sure to close the door behind him after they were both outside. He zipped his black and orange coat up, the chill from the air outside being something he never grew used to. Naruto always made sure Kensei bought him thicker clothing for home: black pants meant for coastal weather, made in one of Wave's many clothing stores, his black boots, probably from the same store - Kensei tended to buy Naruto's clothing for him, not trusting the boy by himself to pick his own - like his trademark black and orange coat, having argued with his father for close to a year in order to get it. He loved orange.

He also loved being a smith. Naruto was always ready to hold the tongs while Kensei smashed the metal with a hammer. He loved to stoke the fire with the bellows, watching the flames lick the inside of the furnace and sometimes rush out into the free air, only to be pulled back inside by some unseen force. Naruto was mesmerized by the various steps that took place in the whole process of making a sword, a mace. Anything, really. While most kids his age were either outside playing with their friends or - as he had seen in the villages they had visited – training for a life spent in the ranks of ninja and samurai, he was far more comfortable with his father in the forge.

He did have one weakness when it came to weapons however: Axes. Something about the way it worked and looked made Naruto long for one of his own. He wanted to have one weapon he was good with, like Kensei. Kensei had shown Naruto his skills with drawing and using his knife, the young boy unable to believe it at first. Over the years though, he had seen his father draw the blade enough to match him in speed. Naruto swore he could draw faster than Kensei, but to him there was only one weapon he needed to know about. And that was an ax.

Swords had length, were able to be used with one hand and were made primarily sharper as well as having most of the body itself be a blade. It also had many styles and schools that all promised they were the best. Spears had even more range and could fight off more people if you were able to swing it around the right way. A knife had speed and stealth: by the time you knew one was being used, it was often far too late. An ax didn't need any of that. It had power and was uncommon. No one knew how to fight against an ax, as far as Naruto was concerned. Kensei had a hard time proving him wrong. As far as the smith had known, the only ax wielders he ever met were lumberjacks and carpenters.

But first, they would have to make the weapon, and as Naruto had come to learn, that was not a fast task to complete. In order to make anything, it required three basic things. At least, that's what Kensei said.

"Anything worth making needs good metal, a good smith and a lot of time. A great smith with the greatest metals could still make a really shit weapon if he only put one week into it. Even the nation's crappiest smith with. . .untreated iron ore could make a great weapon if you give him enough time. The only ones people remember have those three things in common, Naruto. A smith that knows his trade, metals that are properly taken care of, that are refined, and a whole lot of patience. And what's the first thing I ever taught you to do?"

"Practice!"

"What does practice require?"

"Patience!"

"Exactly! And that's how I know you'll make a great smith one day."

* * *

Kensei brought his hammer into the lump of metal on his anvil, eyes focusing on the edge as he hit it, trying to form the chopping crease of a bearded ax. He motioned Naruto to turn the metal over so he could even out the other side, his son nodding and flipping the ax head over. As excited as he was watching what would someday be his own personal ax, he also took his job as 'apprentice' very seriously. Sure, when they were done for the day, he would undoubtedly start cracking jokes and go running around outside or inside, but while he was in the forge, he was the total opposite.

Kensei finished hitting the ax head a few more times then put his hammer down, allowing Naruto to carry and drop the half-formed metal into the water trough. He then took his gloves off and wiped his forehead.

"Alright, that's enough for today. We'll get back to work tomorrow after breakfast. I also have a special surprise for you."

Naruto's heard turned towards his father as he took the ax head out of the water and gently set it down on the stone near the furnace, wrapping it in cloth.

"You'll be working on your ax by yourself next week. We're going to take a trip to a place I haven't visited in a long time. As a matter of fact, I've never even taken you there."

Naruto's eyes grew wide.

"Really? Where are we going?!"

Kensei chuckled and opened the door to their house, Naruto hurriedly running inside and heading to the sink to wash his hands.

"We're going to Konohagakure."

"That's the biggest ninja village in The Land of Fire!"

"I see someone's been paying attention."

Naruto finished washing his hands and started wiping them off, turning back to Kensei.

"Hey Ken-chan, why haven't we ever gone to Konoha before?"

". . .it's a little complicated. I actually have family out there. Only living relative, as far as I know."

"What?!" Naruto almost tripped onto his face on his way into the living room, sitting across from Kensei.

"My cousin, Kushina. She married the current Hokage a while ago. Guy by the name of Min-"

"Minato Namikaze! The Yellow Flash!" Naruto almost shouted the words out.

Kensei wondered if he would ever completely calm down or if hyperactivity was inherited somehow in bloodlines. If so, Hitomi must have hidden it well.

"Yeah, Minato's an alright guy. He's a little like you in the 'loud as all hell' area." He nudged Naruto's shoulder.

"But for the most part, he's alright. Doesn't get along well with the council, which. . .I usually don't agree with, but the people like him and he's basically family. I think the last time I talked with Kushina she was pregnant. Probably has a kid about your age now. Pretty sure it's a girl."

"So why haven't we visited them in so long?!"

"Political reasons. To the people of Konohagakure and it's allies, I'm just a man visiting his cousin and maybe even trying to make a little money. Everyone else, it looks like I'm making weapons. That means their looking to fight. That means their looking for war."

"Then why are we going now?"

"They have these things called 'genin exams'. Kushina's daughter should be graduating soon, so it gives me a good reason to stop by and celebrate with the whole family. And of course, I'd love to show off my favorite son."

"/Only/!" Naruto stated, punching Kensei in the arm, warranting a laugh from the elder smith.

"Ok, my /only/ son."

"Since you did so well today. . .ehh, maybe not." Kensei shook his head, standing up and walking down the hall, already knowing Naruto would be quick to follow.

"What?" Sure enough, he walked after Kensei.

"Well. . .you're doing very well lately with your apprenticeship so. . .I thought maybe you'd like-" Kensei opened the hallway closet and pulled out a large piece of cloth that seemed to have something moderately heavy inside of it. He held it out to Naruto. "This. What I've been working on in the forge for the past few months."

Naruto carefully took the cloth and untied the small piece of rope on the bottom, revealing a one-handed ax.

"Ken-chan. . ."

"Figured you'd keep working on your own, make it however you want. . .in the meantime at least you have something to keep you occupied-" He was swiftly hugged by Naruto, the boy holding his ax by the neck.

"Thank you!" Kensei smiled and hugged his son back, swearing that when the blonde pulled away he could see tears in his eyes.

"I'm gonna go try it out!"

Naruto made his way into the backyard and started swinging the ax left and right, almost toppling over with each chop. Kensei kept an eye on him, noting the boy's lack of proper balance and even issue using the weapon itself. He had never been one for actually using weapons other than to hunt, but he knew when a weapon fit a person and when it just wasn't meant to be. Kensei's heart felt like it was being snapped in two as Naruto kept swinging, each one driving the same thought harder and harder into Kensei's mind.

"He won't be able to use an ax properly."

* * *

Kensei hated doctors. They never said anything good, just how far from perfect you were. How you were 'doing well' but you could always be 'doing better'. This made him hate them all the more when one was currently looking over his son. Every hit to Naruto's knee with a little rubber hammer made him want to punch the man in his face. Being asked questions about Naruto's home life as if Kensei was the cause for his problems.

As the doctor finished one last test, he turned to Kensei. "Alright then Mr. Uzumaki, is it alright if I speak with you alone for a moment?"

"Sure thing doc. Naruto, I'll be right back, alright?"

"Ok." He didn't respond with his usual vigor.

"And then we'll stop by the store and get some ramen, yeah?"

"Ok!" Naruto's smile came back to his face. Kensei smirked and followed the doctor out of the office and a little bit down the hall, the two men stopping.

"It's good you caught this so early, Mr. Uzumaki. Your son has stunted chakra paths as well as some minor muscle issues."

Kensei didn't know what to say. He wanted to ask what it meant, how bad it was, if his son was going to be alright. The doctor seemed to understand and put his hand on Kensei's shoulder.

"It's not life-threatening and he'll grow up perfectly normal, it's just. . .he won't be able to use much chakra. I don't see him being able to do anything more than basic seals. As for his muscles, that's the strange part."

"What's so strange?" Kensei felt slightly better knowing that at least whatever was wrong wouldn't kill his boy.

"It's almost as if his aerobic muscles are wounded. They seem to be working normally, but as you said, it seems to be an issue for him to exert force horizontally."

". . .which means?"

"He won't be able to swing around a giant ax or a sword. He'll be able to use his arms as though they were normal, but he won't be able to lift too much weight. Something in them just isn't working right."

"Can it be fixed?"

"It's hard to say. By civilian medics such as myself? I'm afraid not. You said you were taking him to Konohagakure soon?"

"Yes."

"Have a talk with their ninja medics. They might be able to help you. As I said, he has a far better chance at having this fixed since you caught it so early. It could get worse before it gets better or it might just be as bad as it is now and that's it."

Kensei rubbed his eyes before shaking the doctor's hand. "Thank you, sir." He pulled a few ryu notes and handed it to him. He made his way back to the door and thought for a few moments. Kensei wondered how bad this was about to get. He was essentially telling Naruto he would never be able to accomplish one of his dreams. Those were sacred things Naruto held as close to his heart as he did his promises. But whatever happened, Kensei would be there for his son. They were both Uzumaki, and Uzumaki stuck together.

"So. . .I gonna die?" Naruto joked, scratching the back of his head nervously.

Kensei sat down on the bench with Naruto, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"No, you're going to live a long and annoying life. But uhh. . .there are some problems."

Naruto's smile faded slightly and he looked down. "I. . .can't use my arms right. . .can I?"

". . .No. We're going to talk to the medics in Konoha when we get there. They'll be able to help and you'll get this all sorted out. . ."

"Anything else?" Naruto coughed as he spoke, trying to keep his eyes from watering as he turned to face his dad.

". . .Remember when you were five and you asked me about chakra?"

"Yeah."

"And I mentioned we'd talk about it when you're older?"

"Yeah."

"Well. . .when you got hurt in the bandit raid. . .they must have screwed up your chakra paths. Mifune told me originally you had large reserves of energy, which is probably why you're so insane." He pulled Naruto closer to him, the boy smiling slightly. "But they just stay there inside you. It doesn't go anywhere."

Naruto sighed and shrugged like he was being told his food would be late. "Ehh. I guess that's alright."

". . .What?"

"I said I guess it's alright." Naruto shrugged again and looked at Kensei.

"I mean you don't have much chakra and you're /awesome/. Why should it matter if I don't have much? Not like I'm a ninja or anything. I'm a smith." Naruto raised his thumb and pointed at his chest. "Just means I have to be the best there is."

Kensei smiled and gave Naruto a hug with the arm he already had around his shoulders.

"And I don't think you'll let me down, kid."

"Thanks. Hey, wait, you 'don't think?!' What the hell Ken-chan?!"

* * *

Kensei looked over at his son from the forge. Over the past two days, he wasn't the same excited, happy, running-around-and-proclaiming-his-supremacy-over-all-walks-of-life Naruto. Having one of the two dreams he wanted to fulfill since he was old enough to have them smashed seemed to have broken his spirit. He still focused on smithing, but a bit too much. Like he was trying to make up for it. Kensei sighed and finished tweaking the trigger on his crossbow. The weapon had been his own personal hunting bow since he had moved to Wave, serving him well over the years. It still needed a little fix every once in a while.

Kensei knew that 'dry-firing' a bow was almost akin to breaking it yourself. Dry-firing, or shooting the bow without it being loaded, put tension on the parts that held the rope itself. He turned to look at Naruto, the boy still giving small hits of the hammer to his ax's head, evening out the little bumps and bends at the very edge. Kensei lifted his crossbow up, holding onto the stock and resting the body against his shoulder. He walked over to Naruto and watched him give the metal a few more hits before putting it in the chemical water and pulling away from the steam. Naruto looked at his dad while he pulled the now quenched metal out and set it on the same cloth they always used to dry their metals with.

"What's up Ken-chan?"

"Come with me for a minute."

He smirked and walked away from their forge, making sure to pick up his quiver of bolts – the arrows meant for a crossbow – and stopped a distance away from the forest that surrounded their home.

Naruto followed Kensei, stopping next to him and watching the older Uzumaki pull the rope back on his crossbow to it's tiny metal latch. He grabbed a metal bolt and placed it carefully in the one lone groove on the top, making sure the pointed part of the bolt was aimed vertically. He then held the bow out for Naruto to take, the blonde taking it and looking at his father.

"Uhh. . ."

"Figured you'd never shot a bow off before, be a little fun to get some target practice in, eh?" Kensei smirked and pointed at a knot in the body of a tree.

"Try hitting that over there."

"But Ken-"

"Don't worry about it, we're just messing around. I really just want to see how the trigger pull is on the bow." Kensei moved the bow's stock against Naruto's shoulder, holding it level so when he looked down the groove of the crossbow the pointed tip of the bolt was aimed above the knot.

"Alright kid, when you're shooting a crossbow, make sure you aim above what you're trying to hit to compensate for gravity. What's gravity?"

"It's what makes things fall." Naruto answered, distracted by trying to aim the crossbow, closing his left eye and only using the right.

"Good. Now when you want to shoot the bolt, just pull the metal bar on the bottom up and back, it'll-"

Before Kensei could finish, Naruto did as he was told, the sudden 'woosh' of the rope whipping though the air as it slung the bolt forward the entire distance from them to the tree. With a 'thunk' the bolt hit it's mark, embedded one third of it's body deep into the body of the knot. Kensei laughed while Naruto opened his left eye, mouth agape.

"Shit, Naruto! I've seen ninja miss targets closer to them!" Kensei pulled another bolt out, handing it to Naruto.

"Go ahead, pull the rope back to the latch, place the bolt in and try again."

Naruto repeated the process he had watched Kensei preform earlier, taking a three second delay to aim then firing once more, the 'woosh' echoing the shot a few moments ago. Instead of a solid 'thunk', however, there was a ripping and splitting noise followed by a sudden crack.  
Kensei stood up straight, confused. He walked closer to the tree and stopped.

"Naruto. . ."

Naruto jogged over to his dad, worried that he had done something wrong.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I did it like last time, I don-"

"No, you did fine. You. . ."

The words sounded strange to himself. It was hard to describe exactly what happened other than in a story he would have read to Naruto not but five years ago. He had shot his bolt in the /exact/ same manner and hit the /exact/ same spot. The bolt from before had it's hard, wooden body cracked and split in two while the metal head of the bolt ripped in two from the pressure of the fresh bolt.

"Screw axes, I think we found your true calling, kid."

Kensei thought for a moment. Had he ever seen Naruto throw a knife before? He quickly pulled his own switchblade out and held it for Naruto to take, the young boy carefully trading it for the crossbow he had carried with him.

"Go back a bit and try to hit the same spot, alright?"

"How am I supposed to throw this thing? Over or sideways?" Naruto asked, walking back with Kensei.

"However you want, just try and hit the same spot."

Naruto turned around when he had gotten to the same spot. He flicked the switch on the blade and watched as the knife portion came out. He switched hands, holding it in his right palm. Naruto calmly rose his right hand, holding the knife back and behind his head. With one swift motion, he swung his arm across and down, a moment later the tell-tale 'thud' was heard.

Kensei and Naruto ran over to the tree, no longer walking or jogging. When they got close enough, Naruto swung his fists around happily while Kensei walked closer to the tree. Again, the boy had hit his exact mark. The smith pulled his switchblade out with a strong tug and wiped the wooden debris from its edge. While he might never be able to properly use a weapon like a sword, Kensei had the mind to know talent when he saw it. Minato was going to have to show the kid the right way to throw knives, but at least for the time being, Naruto's mind was no longer on his once broken dreams. Kensei could tell there was a new one taking it's place.

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"Almost kid, just relax." Kensei said for what he assumed was the fourth time in the last ten seconds.

As usual, when Kensei had gotten his transportation deals worked out in Wave, they had him and Naruto in a wagon carriage being pulled along by two through four horses at the slowest possible pace. Even he had to wonder why they always got the short end of the stick when it came to 'available modes of transportation'. He wasn't arguing at the price, just how mind numbingly boring it was. Seen one forest surrounding you on all sides as you were riding across a bumpy patch of dirt, seen 'em all. But it was so much worse with Naruto.

"It's so boring."

"I know."

"When we get there, I can keep working on my ax, right?" Naruto asked excitedly.

He had finished the edge of his ax-head and was now leveling the entire body of it out as well as working on the fold for the 'eye' of the ax. The eye was the almost oval hole in an ax's metal head that the wooden handle went into. Between working on his ax and practicing with the crossbow, at least Naruto would leave Kensei to his work when they got to Konohagakure. His cousin, however, would probably drag him around the village. Kensei had 'loaned' Naruto his crossbow, quiver and bolts, but they both knew that it was as good as the blonde's now.

"Of course, Naruto. I'll get us set up in a forge in town. I'll probably end up selling some kunai anyways. Councils always ask for that."

He didn't want to inflate his ego or Naruto's, but invariably, wherever they were, an ANBU member would show up, politely ask them to follow him to a large building and after a few minutes the two Uzumakis would be in front of a group of aging men and even a few women that would ask them to make weapons. Depending on the village, he'd say yes or no. Often times no. But whenever he visited, they would do the same 'Hello sir, if you would be so kind-' introduction.

Kensei could see the gates of the Konohagakure wall now, patting Naruto on the shoulder and pointing to the distant wall.

"There it is."

Naruto leaned forward in his seat and tried to focus as hard he could, finally seeing the outline of the gate. This caused him to grin broadly. And sling a flurry of questions to Kensei that the smith could barely make out as Naruto's words all ran together. Kensei briefly wondered what happened to the calm Naruto he had come to love so much and replaced him with the psychotic, ever curious, mildly annoying child he had tried to fix. And yet, it still made him smile.

As they arrived to the front of the gate, the man in front of them driving the carriage looked back at the two smiths.

"Better get your passports out, makes things go a little faster."

Kensei had kept their passports in his coat pocket. While Naruto had wanted to hold onto his, Kensei decided it was best if he had it. It was a force of habit with him: Years of having to carry it for Naruto when he was too young to even know what a passport was burned it into his mind. He knew every village they had visited together, all the information on their first two pages of the papers and even their pictures. Kensei had a blank look of complacent existence. Or the 'I'm here, take the picture' pose. Naruto, who had his re-taken every year, was in a new, thumbs up pose with his eyes completely closed and a broad smile on his face. Kensei wondered sometimes if there was a few screws loose in his head, but it was too late to return the kid now.

Kensei covered Naruto's mouth, swiftly silencing his questions.

"Come on Naruto, relax. It's just a village."

Kensei had been repeating those last four words in his head over and over ever since they had left Wave. It was a little nerve wracking to be back here. The last time he had seen his cousin was after a funeral. Anytime he saw or thought about Konoha the pain came flooding back. It lessened with his focus on watching over Naruto, and he actually attributed his son to being the only reason he was even able to /think/ of making the trip back. He moved his hand away from Naruto's mouth as the blonde just nodded and did his best to try and sit still. He failed of course, but it was no longer the same bouncing up and down as before. More of a mild twitch.

The carriage pulled up to the giant set of open doors and they were met with two guards in standard Konohagakure flak vests and both wearing the traditional headbands Kensei had seen on occasion when one of their ninja was on a mission in a village he was at. It was hard to escape the symbol wherever you were: Konoha seemed to send their ninja to every which part of the elemental nations. It probably had something to do with the council wanting to keep an eye on the various other villages, but Kensei knew they'd just pass it off as 'being hired to -insert bullshit statement here-'. It was the same in every village, but Konoha had the numbers to pull it off proper.

"Hello there, passports please." One of the two men asked politely.

Kensei reached into his coat pocket calmly and pulled out the two small pamphlets, both covered in the Wave village's symbol. The ninja looked at Naruto's first, then double checked the last name before moving to Kensei's, his mouth curving upward into a smirk.

"It's not every day you see an Uzumaki other than the Fourth's wife. And it's even more rare when that man is the most famous smith in the Uzumaki line."

Kensei laughed and rustled Naruto's hair.

"Yeah, well, this kid right here is about to have that title."

Naruto turned a light red and tried to punch Kensei's ribs, instead catching his arm. "Ken-chaan!"

The older men laughed and Kensei took their passports back, nodding as he did to the guards.

"Speaking of the Fourth's wife. . .I don't suppose family members get priority on visitation to the Hokage's office, do they?"

"Of course they do." The man smiled and pointed to the Hokage's building. "Right over there. If you'd like, we can have someone escort your belongings to your hotel or apartment."

"That'd be nice." Kensei took a few bills out of his pocket and handed them to the carriage driver, patting him on the back. The man looked at Kensei then the money.

"But sir, I was already paid-"

"Ahh, don't worry about it. Got us here quick enough and I'd like to get back home just as fast when my time here's done. Sound good?"

The man took the money and bowed as best he could while sitting down. "I'll make sure the council knows, Mr. Uzumaki."

"Alright then, was a fun ride."

Kensei took a wrapped sword with him and jumped off the carriage. Naruto made sure his crossbow was tied around his back, grabbed his ax-head and quiver full of bolts then climbed down, almost tipping over due to the weight of what he had on him.

Kensei shook his head and held his hand out to take Naruto's ax-head.

"Come on Naruto, you'll pass out before we even get to the building itself with that much to carry."

Hesitant at first, Naruto groaned and gave the weapon piece to Kensei, the older smith putting it in his coat pocket.

"I don't even know why you brought the crossbow. . ."

"Cause why not?! It's awesome!"

"And about half your weight." Kensei retorted.

". . .it's /still/ awesome." Naruto said, already a little upset at how heavy the crossbow was on his back.

As they walked, Naruto took the time to look at the various buildings and people, unused to seeing such a large and vibrant city. Kirigakure was small and cold with people that were far too silent and serious, while Wave was just small and everyone was 'too old' for Naruto to really talk to. While he loved visiting Tetsu no Kuni, it also lacked the same carefree feeling that Konoha had in abundance. It was one of four villages he had never been to before. The others were Kusagakure, Otogakure and Kumogakure. He guessed it had something to either do with how far away they were or maybe even the people there being 'crazy' like Kensei had told him most of the people in Otogakure were.

Whatever the various excuses were, he was glad to finally see Konoha. He stopped moving and stared up at the large faces on the side of a mountain, his mouth agape.

"Ken-chan. . .what's that?!"

Kensei looked down at Naruto, following his gaze to the mountain.

"Ahh, that's the Hokage Monument."

"Hokage Monument?"

"It's to honor the Hokages of Konohagakure. The First and his brother the Second, The Third Hokage- also the only one to retire- and Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage. Minato's married to my cousin, Kushina Uzumaki. That means your related to a Hokage." Kensei added the last part in just for Naruto's following reaction: A broad smile.

"I'm related to the Hok-" Naruto's mouth was covered again by Kensei, a few people watching the two, wondering what all the shouting was about.

"Come on Naruto, you know how hard it is to walk through the streets of a village when people know you're related to someone important?!" Kensei whispered to Naruto. The boy shook his head. Confused, Kensei took his hand off of Naruto's mouth.

"Duh, Ken-chan. I'm related to /you/ after all."

Kensei still looked like Naruto wasn't making any sense.

"Kid, I'm no where near as important as a Hokage. Or my cousin for that matter." He said, remembering her burden. It wasn't talked about much, but he knew what his bloodline involved in the ways of 'special creatures'

Naruto shook his head violently. "Nuh-uh! You're Ken-chan! You make awesome swords and stuff! And you're all cool! I mean come on!"

Kensei smiled and picked Naruto up- a rare occurrence now- and carried him on his back.

"Thanks Naruto."

"Sure thing Ken-chan! Now mush!" He shouted, Kensei wincing slightly at the volume of the blonde so close to his ears.

He continued walking, stopping by the gates surrounding the Hokage's office. One guard behind the wall came to the gate.

"Hello." Kensei said to the man as he stood by the gate.

"Hi. I'll need your name and reason for entry."

Kensei made sure Naruto had a tight grip around his neck and could hold himself up while Kensei used his right hand to reach into his coat pocket and get their passports. He held them out for the man to take.

"Kensei Uzumaki and Naruto Uzumaki. I'd like to talk with my cousin please."

* * *

Kensei sighed in frustration as he filled out yet another piece of paperwork. No matter where they went, what they did or who they were even related too, apparently he was going to have to fill out forms whenever councils or village leaders were concerned. Then again, he wouldn't have so many papers in front of him if Naruto wasn't so adamant about keeping his crossbow and ax-head with him. The blonde refused to part with them- he even went to far as to accuse the guards of trying to steal 'his masterpiece'.

As he finished what he hoped was the last sheet of paper, Kensei sat down next to Naruto. He had been keeping a watchful eye over his crossbow for the first few minutes, but currently was asleep, the weapon held across his arms as he hugged it like a teddy bear.

"Mine." He muttered, pulling the trigger. The rope of the bow was let loose, slapping Naruto's cheek but not waking the child. Thankfully, Kensei had managed to take the bolts away from his son, deeming them far too dangerous for him to have on his person indoors.

The doors to the room in front of them were opened by two masked ninja, both having different animal-themed face gear. Kensei could see the katanas on their hips and knew that they were ANBU. Before he stopped coming to Konoha, he used to used to make their swords. It was a mixture of 'good will' from Kusagakure and Kensei helping out a relative of his. And the money didn't hurt either.

"You've been cleared to see the Hokage."

"And my son's crossbow won't be an issue?"

The one ANBU snickered while the other shook his head. "It'd take something a /lot/ faster than that to kill the Hokage."

Kensei took a deep breath and shook Naruto, the boy's eyes opening slowly, a yawn escaping his mouth.

"Is it time to have lunch?"

"Nah, come on kid, it's time to meet the rest of the family."

Naruto nodded sleepily and stood up with some effort, slinging his crossbow over his shoulder and making sure the strap that held it across his back was secure. Kensei put his hand on Naruto's left shoulder and steered the half-asleep blonde into the room, the doors closing behind them.

As they closed, Kensei took quick stock of the room: it was more or less the same messy office he had seen years ago on his last visit to Konoha. Minato never was one for keeping things in order, and it seemed that time had not helped in that area. He doubted his cousin spent much time in the room, as it would have undoubtedly driven her insane. She always was yelling at the Hokage to clean up whatever room he was currently making a mess in. In that sense, he knew she would like Naruto. While apprehensive at first to the idea of cleaning, the young boy soon fell into the routine of it when helping his father around the forge.

The office also had a nice view of the village and mountain. As it was just far enough away from other buildings due to it's wall, most of the outside was unobstructed by anything. Kensei's attention was immediately pulled forward by the movement in front of him. He had been so distracted that he failed to notice the people standing right there.

"It's been a while, Kensei."

It /had/ been a while since he heard that voice.

A smile slowly worked it's way to Kensei's face, mirroring the one across the room from him. The woman had the long, dark red hair unique to their clan. She was dressed very beautifully; She wore a light blue sundress and dark blue sandals, a black clip holding onto the right side of her hair, more for show than actually holding it down. Next to her was a tall, blonde haired man, lazily smirking at the two cousins. He was still wearing the same outfit Kensei had almost seen him in daily: White cloak with red flames emblazoned on the bottom, green Konohagakure flak jacket, blue pants, blue sandals and his wild hair covering his headband.

The only person Kensei didn't know off hand was a small girl Naruto's age. Half of her hair was unkempt and the other smoothed down, it was still Uzumaki red. On her face was a pair of black rimmed glassed that made her look far more intelligent than she should for her age. She was also wearing a purple sweater, blue sandals and black pants. Currently, her gaze was aimed downward, a shy blush on her face. Kensei put two and two together and assumed it was their child.

All of these thoughts ran though his head in what seemed like seconds. It was almost as if time was going too fast or too slow, Kensei couldn't grasp which. His mind was overclocking while everything else was moving at a snail's pace. Whatever it was, all he was aware of was that he was having a hard time remembering what to do next.

". . .am I supposed to hug you now or do we just keep standing here awkwardly until I do something stupid? Like what I'm doing right now by saying all of this."

'Good job Kensei. Great job.'

The red-headed woman walked over and wrapped her arms around him tightly, resting her head against his chest. Kensei hugged her back, his brain reminding him how stupid he was for avoiding Konoha for so long. And then the memories that hurt him came back as they recalled the /last/ time she hugged him like this. And the funeral that came hours before it.

"You freaking idiot!"

Kensei winced as he took a hit to the head. He would had been reeling back if the same woman didn't hug him again seconds after.

"Shit, Kushina, I'm sorry." He smirked and hugged her back once more. She pulled away and gave him a light punch to the shoulder.

"Kensei Uzumaki, if you /ever/ go that long without visiting me again, I will personally beat the shit out of you until you're unable to /walk/ away from me, understand?!"

Kensei laughed nervously and scratched his head. "Sure thing, cuz."

"Alright."

Kensei turned to Minato and the two men walked forward to meet each other, giving one another a hug and a pat on the back.  
"How's the Hokage life been treating you?" Kensei asked once they pulled apart.  
"Annoying, busy, filled with meetings and paperwork. What about smithing?"  
"Annoying, busy, filled with meetings and paperwork."  
The two men chuckled at their personal jokes. They knew how much was involved with their lives and that at times it seemed a little too much. But that was just the way things worked.

"At least it's a little easier with an apprentice." Kensei said, nudging Naruto forward.

The boy sleepily bowed, almost falling straight into the floor if Kensei hadn't grabbed his coat's collar and pulled him back.

"Sorry, kid's a little tired."

Kushina kneeled down and smiled at Naruto. "Hello there, it's nice to meet Kensei's apprentice!"

Naruto wiped his eyes and shook his head.

"Hey lady, Ken-chan's my dad. . .oh, and my black smithing teacher." Naruto answered, almost as if he missed her already acknowledging that fact.

". . . .Your /what?!" Kushina yelled, eyes wide.

Naruto jumped back, now awake. The red-head started to shake him violently. "He's your what?! How did this happen?! Who's your mother?! How old are you?!" She let him go and hugged Kensei again, crying dramatically.

"Oh god, I knew one day you'd experience the wonders of being a father! Tell me the whole story! Did you meet his mother like the stories in the fairy tales?! Did you romance her for months until you two finally wed?!"

Kensei blinked, trying to work out all of the words she was spraying at him. It was very similar to how Naruto always questioned him, so he assumed he'd take the same approach.

"Shhhh. . .relax."

He felt the same pain as before on his head, reminding himself that Kushina was far more violent and willing to hurt him for treating her like a child.

"Shit! Stop hitting me!"

"Then just shut up and tell me everything!"

"I don't even understand how I could do that!"

"What did you say to me?!"

"I said I'll tell you everything, just don't hit me!"

Kensei gave the quick version of how Naruto came to be his son: His family died in a bandit attack, he tried to find relatives for him to live with, were none, Kensei adopted him. It was almost muscle-memory, the story being told countless times and ways to various people that knew the smith over the years. However, it felt a little different explaining it to his cousin. Better. Like the words made him happy and he could tell they made her happy. Naruto, who was now wide awake also turned red whenever Kensei spoke fondly of the boy or rustled his hair playfully. The young girl also had the same reactions, occasionally laughing when everyone else did.

"But that's enough about my kid. . .what about that one over there?" Kensei smiled and waved at her. She bashfully waved back and looked back down at the ground.

"That would be our daughter, Karin." Kushina said, putting her hands on both of her daughter's shoulders.

"Say hi to your relatives, Karin."

". . .hi." She muttered, playing with her hair. The adults laughed together, their respective children feeling very embarrassed at /their/ respective parents.

"Ken-chan, can you stop acting like an old man and talking about me?!"

"Same goes for you, mom!" Karin spitefully said to her own parent.

The elder Uzumakis glared down at their kids, both quickly regretting their statements.

However, the cousins looked at each other and came to a silent agreement.

"Well, I guess you /have/ suffered enough. . .how about you kids go play outside while Kensei and I catch up?"

"Hell yeah!" The blonde shouted.

"Awesome!" His red-haired cousin screamed in exuberance.

* * *

Kensei watched from the bench as Naruto showed off his crossbow to Karin. It was still unloaded, but the blonde was certainly proud of his weapon and Karin was still in awe of how 'grown up' he was for having one, complaining about only possessing kunai. It would have been a strange conversation outside of a ninja village. Kushina seemed to have the same thoughts, looking at the two kids playing.

"So he calls you Ken-chan?"

Kensei smirked and turned to look at his cousin. "Yeah. Heard an old-friend call me that when we were out in. . .Kiri I think it was. Maybe a boat guard at Wave. Been calling me that ever since."

". . .I know it probably hurts still. . .even if it's just him saying it." Kushina's own smile faded slightly when she said that.

Kensei sighed and looked down at the ground for a moment before turning his gaze back to Naruto, immediately smiling again when the blonde hit his own hand with the crossbow's rope again, shouting in pain while Karin laughed.

"Actually. . .it did at first. I tried to get him to call me dad. . .daddy. . .anything else, really. He just never liked any of the other names. And it just kept being my name for him." Kensei remembered the first time Naruto had referred to Kensei as 'Ken-chan! My daddy!' to a council member back in the Land of Iron. They had loved keeping tabs on the smith and his boy.

"But over the years, it bothered me less and less and now it doesn't have the same feeling behind it."

"That's good to hear." Kushina replied.

"Matter of fact. . .that's half the reason I was able to come back here." Kensei leaned back in the bench.

"Once that stopped bothering me, I got to thinking about stuff. . .why I even gave a shit about avoiding the places we used to go to. The places her and I used to live at. And then it stopped hurting as much."

The male Uzumaki took a look around the park, noting a few families and one ANBU guard, no doubt watching over them.

"Don't get me wrong, a few things I still can't shake the feeling from. Kusa, for example. . .that's still hard to think about." Kensei said, coughing once to try and clear his throat, feeling like something was caught in it when he mentioned his old hometown, trying to forget it.

"But hey, maybe one day I'll be able to go back. I mean hell, I'm back here after all."

"And it's great having you here." Kushina said quickly.

In all honesty, she had missed her cousin more as time went by. She couldn't just forget him. He was the only other living member of her clan since they were almost all wiped out years ago. Kensei was the one person who knew what it felt like to be that /alone/. They were all but inseparable when they were younger and his father and him made visits to Konoha during their trading days. He was more like a brother than anything else. Years later, when the funerals were held, Kensei asked if the burial plots could be in Konoha, one of his last conversations with his cousin before all but dropping off the map.

She didn't hear about him again until a year later when he decided to take up his old profession once more. And while it made her feel better knowing he was still alive, it stung far more to know he was avoiding her and the village she lived in due to all of the memories it held, good and bad. But now he was back and happy even. And it was all because of Naruto. Kushina made a mental note to thank the boy when he was older and could understand what he had done for her cousin. But that would be quite a while later.

"Also, I've been meaning to ask. . .would it be too much trouble for Naruto to be seen by some of your medic ninja?" Kensei obviously wanted to change the subject.

"Of course. Why, is something wrong with him?"

"Besides /still/ being an endless source of questions on how the world works? Yeah."

Kushina sighed. "Karin loves to ask me stuff like that too. So what's wrong?"

"Well two big- actually, I don't even know if they qualify as big problems or not. It's more like hindrances, really." Kensei rubbed his forehead. "Anyways, kid has damaged chakra paths. It's all due to the bandit raid so that one is more than likely just beyond fixing."

"How badly?" Kushina felt her heart sting, taking a moment to look at the boy as he played with her daughter.

"About the same as me. Maybe less." Kensei wove his hand. "He's already fine with that, stopped caring about the same time he found out about it, really. What's a big issue is his nerves. Doctor said something in them might be wounded, stunted, damaged. He has trouble lifting things of significant weight."

"Hold on- He can't lift things but he's still your smithing apprentice?"

"Being a smith, while it requires you to work /on/ heavy materials, does not require heavy swings of the hammer. More often than not, you're working on a flat surface like an anvil, hitting something in a medium swing or light taps. Hell, most of the stuff we build is either in pieces anyways or light enough for him to carry. I don't know the specifics but it has something to do with his muscles not being able to go horizontally or something. I'm not a doctor so it's really hard to describe." Kensei scratched his head, looking up with a sheepful smile. "But he's resilient."

"Told him about it the same second the doctor let me talk to him. Two weeks later, he doesn't even give a shit anymore." Kensei motioned to Naruto, the boy putting a rock on his bow and letting Karin hold it, the weapon too heavy. She pulled the trigger on accident and the rock shot at his leg, bouncing off as Naruto cursed and hopped up and down. Karin carefully put the crossbow down and worriedly walked over, a constant string of apologies being shouted.

Kushina hit her cousin on his head for the fourth time that day.

"What the /fuck/!?"

And then for the fifth.

"Stop cursing in front of Naruto! He's going to be as foul mouthed as you when he grows up at this rate!"

* * *

"So do you know ninja stuff?"

"Yes. A few things my mom and dad taught me. Mostly family stuff and the basics, but I'm supposed to learn more when I get my teacher after I graduate tomorrow!" Karin exclaimed happily.

"Cool!"

"What about you?"

"Nah, I can't. I have messed up chakra paths. But Ken-chan gave me his crossbow and I'm really good with it!" Naruto smiled, looking around for a rock to shoot.

He found a slightly jagged one and loaded it into his crossbow's arrow slot. He had already pulled the rope back before, almost always having it ready 'just in case', which is half of why Kensei didn't let him have his bolts. Naruto leveled the bow with the middle of a fence post, closing his left eye and slowly letting the breath out of his lungs. Kensei had taught him that as well. It was something he knew little of, one of his old contacts calling it 'controlled breathing'.

When he was halfway through his exhale, Naruto pulled the trigger, the rope letting lose and pulling the rock the length of the bow. It slung the rock end over end into the post, a loud crack noise following as the now-dented post bounced the rock off into the dirt. He smiled and turned to Karin. She had been watching with rapt attention, never actually seeing the bow fire – aside from when she launched the other rock directly into his shin.

"That was cool!" She shouted, looking at Naruto's crossbow then taking out one of her kunai.

"I'm not really too great at throwing knives, but my dad says I've gotten a lot better."

"Do it! Throw one!" Naruto was anxious to see how cool his 'kind-of-cousin' was.

While his father and him had worked with many of the elemental nations, he was never allowed to watch the various skills and maneuvers. The most he had seen were some of Kai's machete swings when the weapons was done being crafted and Zabuza showing off his fabled 'Silent Killing' technique on a log. Well, he had 'seen' as much as one could with all of the thick mist obscuring his vision.

Karin took one of her kunai out and held it upright, taking a quick breath before whipping her arm across the air. It was almost too fast for Naruto to watch, but he caught the throw and saw the blade stick into the same fence post he had shot. It landed below his mark, but the feat was astounding none the less.

"Holy crap! That was awesome!" Naruto rose a fist into the air, almost as if he had done the action himself.

Karin's face turned a light red"It's just a kunai-"

"So?! You can do what I do with a crossbow /with/ a knife!"

"But I missed the same spot!" She whined.

"You hit a freaking fence post at the same range as a crossbow!"

Karin and Naruto stared at each other for a few moments before laughing. Naruto had loved being with Karin for the past few hours. It was the first time in his life when he was able to talk to and play- as much as using weapons could be constituted as playing – with someone his age. He loved spending time with his father, but the elder Uzumaki always treated him one of two ways: Either as a drinking buddy to talk to about work or his son to be coddled and cared for. The blonde loved the time he spent with his dad, but it wasn't the same.

"Can you do anything else ninja-y?"

"Oh sure! I have to make a clone of myself in order to pass my test tomorrow. I also know how to fight, my mom's been teaching me taijutsu."

"That sounds cool! Ken-chan just taught me how to use my crossbow and the knife swingy thing."

". . .the what?"

"I keep forgetting what he called it. It has a Q in the name and something about drawing- Quick drawing!"

"Can you show me?"

"Yeah, can I borrow one of your kunai?"

Karin took one more out of her kunai pouch and held it out for Naruto. He took the knife and put it inside his coat. Naruto stood still for a few moments, hands at his sides, looking forward. His hand quickly swung into his coat and slashed forward, faster than when Karin had thrown her own kunai earlier. As he was midway into his swing, he held his arm still, imagining it being right next to someone's throat.

". . .Holy crap!" Karin uttered.

Naruto laughed and scratched his head with his free hand, holding the kunai out for Karin to take back.

"I'm not too much faster than Ken-chan, but I'm still practicing."

"Naruto, that was so cool!"

"It's just pulling a knife out quickly- I mean shit, you said you can make copies of yourself?!"

"Psh, any ninja can do that!"

"So? I can't! You're automatically more awesome!"

Naruto and Karin shouted out at the exact same moment.

"We're so damn awesome!"

"Oi, kid. . ."

"Karin, sweety. . ."

The cousins turned around and saw their parents. Kensei was cracking his knuckles as Kushina balled her fist.

"What did I tell you about cursing in front of family?!"

"I thought I told you to /never/ use language like that!"

And that's when the two younger Uzumakis learned that while they had a few special skills under their belts, their parents had far more. And they actually involved /using/ belts.

* * *

Kensei scratched the back of his head and sat down on the couch inside his cousin's house. Of course, they had the largest home he had ever been in. Minato had added onto the once medium sized house in the years since he had been in Konoha last. Kushina had asked Kensei to stay with them for dinner that night and even offered them the guest room for their stay, but Kensei declined on the second offer. He loved being around what constituted his entire family, but he kept reminding himself he still had a job to do while he was there and the apartment they rented was only two streets away from the forge they would be using.

Sharing was more like it. Kensei was told that while only one family was responsible for smithing for the entire village, their forge was larger than most others he had worked in. He doubted it rivaled the Land of Iron's government-run and owned foundry, but then again, he wasn't allowed /in/ that particular building.

"Unless of course, you moved here" the council politely told him. They mentioned the money he could make. The prestige. The titles. The security.

It was honestly very alluring to the smith.

Then again, it was the same offer everywhere.

But every time he thought about moving away from Wave and being tied down to only one village, he knew the answer.

'Thanks. No thanks.'

Being a freelance smith gave him total control over what and who he made his weapons for. He knew exactly what kind of person was going to have a blade able to do things that even /he/ questioned how in the hell it was possible.

One sword he made actually cut a chunk out of his anvil when it /fell/.

He shook his head, half hearing someone call out his name from the dining room. Kensei stood up and started on his way out of the living room.

"Ken-chan! Food!" Naruto shouted, two feet away from his father.

"Kid. . .I'm right here."

"Yeah, but it took you too long so I thought maybe you were so old your hearing had gone or something." His son smiled up at him.

". . .do you want me to get the belt again?"

"I love you, father."

Naruto hugged Kensei, quickly letting go and running over to his seat next to Karin. The two had become quick friends. Maybe it had something to do with both of their parents simultaneously whacking the ever-living out of them, their penchant for talking back to said parents or even just having natural good chemistry.

Kensei hoped, at least for his child, it was the fear he instilled in him.

"Kensei, sit down right now or I smother you to death in your sleep."

The male Uzumaki did as he was told, smiling brightly.

"Anything for you, my favorite cousin."

She placed a variety of foods in front of the family, Naruto's eyes going wide and proclaiming his love for Kushina. After Minato tearfully exclaiming that as the reason he married the woman – and quickly responding afterwords he loved /everything/ about her, having received a glare from his wife – they all started eating.

Throughout the night they all talked about their lives: Minato about the stress and monotony of hokage duties, Kushina about giving birth to her daughter and taking care of family, Karin and Naruto discussed their entire existence to one another before taking off to 'play more' – which was really an excuse to shoot more rocks/throw more kunai into the fence and see who was better. Kensei didn't say all too much himself. Just that he had "been busy".

"What the hell does that even mean?" Kushina asked, frustrated with her cousin. Minato had taken the job of cleaning the dining room up, allowing the two Uzumaki more time to talk.

"It means I've been the opposite of lazy, which if your old insults are any indication, mean I've gotten more mature." Kensei smirked, Kushina slamming her face with the palm of her hand.

"Kensei-"

"Really, it's nothing new. Same as when dad was alive. Travel, smith, come back home, take a few weeks off, get a new contract, repeat. I will admit, it's far more. . .fun, now that Naruto's learning how to make his own weapons."

"And I can't get over how cute it is to see my cousin and his son working together. Oh! I'm totally going to stop by the forge when you two are busy! I'll just die of pride and cuteness!" Kushina held her hands together, imagining the father and son singing together while making kunai and swords.

"It's not even remotely how you're thinking about it, but alright, I guess so." Kensei shook his head, trying to remember what day it was. When the date finally clicked he scratched the back of his neck, wondering how to bring up the current subject in his mind.

"Um. . .cuz. . ." Kensei took a quick look to see where Naruto was, not finding him in the immediate vicinity.

". . .You know. . .the sealing date anniversary is coming up soon. . .how are. . .things." It was always a mixed blessing when that subject was mentioned.

Kushina had been the target of many attempts on her life from people outside of Konoha due to her housing the Nine-Tails. When Kensei had found out, it didn't bother him all too much. If anything, it made he want to watch over his cousin more. The sealing day was commemorated to those who had the burden of holding the Kyuubi, and it always changed depending on when the current container started their 'job'.

Kushina sighed and looked down then over at Minato. The blonde merely smirked then continued his cleaning.

"Actually, the date changed."

"Oh? Marrying the hokage let you change the rules around when it comes to the particular date?"

". . .kind of, yeah."

Kensei wasn't a ninja, but he knew when the subject was being avoided.

". . . . . .wait. I know for a fact it didn't get loose. . .but you're being creepily vague here."

"Well, you know how the Nine-Tails has a tradition of being housed in Uzumaki?"

"Yeah."

"We still don't know the specifics of how it changes hosts but. . .when I was pregnant, apparently it was able to pick a new one."

"Karin?"

Kushina nervously laughed and nodded. "Yeah. . ."

"Uhhhh. . .did I ever mention how weird life is?"

"Yes, actually, you did quite often when we were younger-"

"This is exactly why I said that."

"Kensei, it's fine. The Nine-Tails took care of me when I was the host and now it's watching over my daughter. Our conversations were actually kind of nice when he calmed down and stopped talking about endless destruction and death."

Kensei's mouth opened to respond, but his words just left. This was territory far more familiar to those involved, and those involved had a lot more to do with ninja life, chakra and sealed creatures.

". . .Kensei?"

"Yeah, I'm ok, just a big thing that makes little to no sense to me, whatever, it's cool." Kensei managed to blurt all that out, looking like his brain was overheating.

"So does everyone know like when you were host or is it different these days?"

"Oh no, everyone knows still, and the commemoration date is still on the day of her accepting the Kyuubi as her duty to watch over. It just happens to be on her birthday too."

"Oh, that's convenient."

"I know you never had any issues with me being the host but some people did. . ." Kushina remembered the threats and misdirected hate. It was hard seeing the same thing happen to Karin, but her husband did a nice job instilling fear in those that did, making it far less public.

". . .do you think Naruto would look at her different if he knew?"

Kensei laughed, almost doubling over the table. Kushina's eye twitched, annoyed with the sudden change in mood.

"Kushina, I love Naruto, but that kid is as thick as cement when it comes to grasping the concept of some things. He's also one of the friendliest people I've ever seen alive. I doubt he'd even give a shit about it. And that's even if he understands it!" Kensei started laughing again, holding his chest, the twinge of pain from laughing getting stronger.

Kushina smiled, watching her cousin. Naruto had apparently picked up much from the man. He wouldn't judge someone based on what they were told. She could see the similarities the entire time they had been together. The two men both laughed with their whole body at jokes they made, they made sure others were taken care of first, were not too great at conversations, and while it pissed Kushina off to no end, they spoke in strings of curse words. It was like watching Kensei's blonde, smaller, far more hyperactive and denser twin.

Kensei also seemed to be picking up from Naruto. He was joking around like he had used to when they were young, he was eating almost as violently as the young blonde (and her husband, much to her dismay), and apparently it was due to Naruto that her cousin was even able to come visit them. It took all of Kushina's focus to not start bawling openly at how great it felt to be surrounded by her family. And it took almost as much restraint not to hit her cousin, seeing as how he fell asleep mid conversation.

* * *

Kensei yawned and looked up at the sun, noting that by it's placement in the sky, it was closer to four than three in the afternoon. He was waiting out in front of his house for Kasumi. Today was the day they we supposed to hang out together. His father had left the previous night for Kirigakure to sell some clothes or pick up some clothes – Kensei never really paid too much attention to the specifics of what his father told him. The elder Uzumaki constantly told his son the /exact same thing/ four times in an hour. If he was visiting the store, it was repeated over and over again until the man left. Ironically enough, this allowed for Kensei to ignore him. Which led to him constantly asking 'what are you doing again?'

But that was just how family tended to be. His cousin Kushina was violent and outspoken. Whatever few words Kensei had managed to speak to her almost always pissed her off, embarrassed her or made her so excited that she /hit/ him. It was like being related to a slightly more aggressive version of his best friend. 'Best friend', Kensei kept trying to remind himself. He had noticed how much time she wanted to spend with him and the ire she had for any other woman even talking to him. It had always been that way, Kasumi wanting to keep her best friend all to herself, which she even used to say as she chased them off, but now it felt different.

Kensei didn't have much experience in the way of females, mostly due to the same one that was causing him said lack of experience. Whenever he asked his father about the subject, he either laughed and said 'you'll understand when you're older' or just pushed the boy out of his house with some money. It really depended on how his dad was feeling that day. Before he left however, he did have a very interesting 'talk' with his son.

"Kensei. . .I'll be gone for the next two weeks. Now, I want you to promise me no giant parties."

"Ok dad."

"And if you break anything you're paying for it."

"Ok dad."

"And if you have sex with any girls I demand you marry them."

". . .Ok dad." Kensei usually humored his dad's rants.

"But you can only have relations with Kasumi."

"Ok- wait, the fuck?!"

"What? You two are basically going out anyways."

"She's my friend!" Kensei shouted, trying to punch his dad's shoulder, the trader laughing and pulling away.

"She's the only woman you see, spends most of her free time with you, stares at you while you space out and you're going to have the house /and/ all the alcohol to yourself for the next half month. You can see why a father would be worried now, can't you?"

"But-"

"I know, I know, she's your friend." Kensei's father put his hand on his son's shoulder and looked serious for a moment. "But this might be the time to ask her about you two. If she's pushing away every other girl from you but it's not going anywhere else, she's being unfair to you. And if she likes you, then you need to address that fact and make a decision so it's not unfair to her. I didn't raise an idiot, did I?"

Kensei had thought about the answer to that question for a while, giving his father a simple 'no' before the older man smiled and told him to be a 'good boy'. He could also hear his dad mutter under his breath how similar things were between Kasmui and Kensei's mom. And that was what drove Kensei to contemplating his relationship with his one friend. His only /girl/ friend. He sighed deeply and ran his hands through his hair, looking down the street. He caught a glimpse of the girl that had been giving him so many strange feelings.

He watched as she made her way towards him, smiling when she saw him. Kensei could feel his heartbeat picking up as she came closer.

* * *

Kensei put his hand over his heart and winced slightly, coughing and even holding in a small burp. Naruto looked at his dad, tired and just hoping that they could get to their apartment. After shooting around in the backyard with Karin and the big meal, the small boy seemed to finally lose some of his energy. Kensei, after being woken up with a light shake instead of a punch from his cousin, half-asleep, got Naruto and decided it was time they turned in. He had spaced out the entire walk from Kushina's house, up until his chest burned. He figured it must have been all of the food. His cousin always could cook, but she never knew when to /stop/.

Then again, he was always looking forward to a few drinks and a meal with family, so it worked out for the best.

"Ken-chan, you alright?" Naruto yawned after speaking, rubbing his eyes lightly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had too much for dinner tonight."

". . .it was so cool. I loved all the food." Naruto smiled, now being shoved towards the house Kensei knew was theirs. It was across the street from a -currently 'closed' for the night- forge that they would be working at. Kensei was told it was family run and owned, as well as being the only one they would be able to work in while staying in Konoha.

"Can we stay here?" Naruto muttered while Kensei tried to put the key in the door's lock.

"Sorry kid. As much as I'd love to. . .we're what you call 'politically screwed'."

"What's that mean?"

"Well. . .say we moved here, means the village has more sway, what with our weapons now being manufactured to whomever they allow us to craft for. And that's even if we make stuff for any villages other than Konohagakure." Kensei opened the door, Naruto stumbling inside.

"Now-" Kensei walked in as well, closing the door behind him. "This gives other nations a reason to attack Konoha or even hold sanctions against them, which, in the long run, hurt them far more than we help. On top of that, our pay is cut due to the higher import taxes on materials, higher cost of living, sharing a forge, maybe getting one set up- It's a shitload of work."

". . .but we'd live with your family."

Kensei sighed and rubbed his eyes, walking into Naruto's room. The boy had claimed the master bedroom for himself, which Kensei was fine with anyways.

"Yeah, but they'd have to deal with all the shit we caused. Staying in Wave just works out a lot better."

Kensei sat down on the edge of the bed Naruto was now crawling inside of.

". . .But I'll promise you this. We will /visit/ more." Kensei knew that after the genin exams, he'd be able to have an excuse to visit more, what with 'reuniting with long-lost relatives' being a promising reason. Even to most ninja villages, that couldn't be argued with too much.

"Ok Ken-chan."

"Alright kid. . .so how did it feel to meet the rest of the family?" Kensei smirked.

"I loved it. I got to eat food and show Karin the bow and. . ." Naruto yawned, his eyes closing slowly.  
"I got to hear about what you were like when you were a kid." Naruto's voice trailed off at the end, starting to pass out.

Kensei patted his son's hair and sat up, careful not to disturb him. He made his way out of the room, closing Naruto's door behind him. He started into the living room and sat down, opening some of their belongings which had already been brought in like he had asked for. It was strange being in Konohagakure. It was almost like visiting his second- more like his third house. Wave was always his proper home, the apartment he basically had on lease in the Land of Iron a close second. But Konoha was like a third home. He remembered the layout of most of the streets, and while the Hokage monument now had a very familiar face on the side of it, the city remained the same for the most part.

So did his family. What was left of it. But those were thoughts he didn't want to focus on. Kensei picked his papers up for the job they had traveled to Konoha for, glossing over them for what he guessed was the sixth time now.

_Kensei Uzumaki, private smithing contractor of Wave, as well as any/all of those under his employ or titled as 'apprentice' are registered by the shinobi village of Konohagure as having access to the family-run forge owned by:-_  
Kensei rubbed his eyes, feeling the slight burning pain of being up so late. He continued reading.  
-_and as such, are allowed to work at their own hours while residing in the village. They have been payed:  
300,000 Ryu  
as approved of by the council of Konohagakure and its Fourth Hokage. This transaction will be paid in full upon completion of:  
2000 Kunai  
30 Katana  
5 Kama  
70 Leaf Head Protectors  
All materials will be supplied for and made to specification by local Konohagakure metals, blueprints and patterns._

Kensei sighed and folded the paper up, sliding it into his coat for tomorrow. He looked over at the room he knew his bed would be in. He chuckled and laid down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling, his arms behind his head. He was too tired to get up, deciding that this was good enough.

'Good enough.'

That was a word he had been using a lot lately. Before, everything was only different shades of 'bad', 'crap' or even 'about as good as a knife to the kidney'.

But this was good enough.

* * *

**So, that does it for Chapter 3. The belated update is thanks to a mixture of midterms and general procrastination (APB:Reloaded). Chapter 4, however, is already in the works and _should_ have a faster update. Also, RoM reworked the formatting again to try and make it easier to read. Feel free to review or PM with whatever comments and questions you have and I promise to get to them as soon as possible.**

**Thanks for reading, guys and gals!**

**-Constantine**

"**You know, I walk through the streets seeking my past in a different place, do you think that's maddness?"  
- Constancia, Carlos Fuentes**


	4. History

**Disclaimer: Constantine and RoM do not own Naruto. Constantine does own his OCs however.**

**Chapter 4**

**History**

* * *

"So do you think you're going to graduate? I mean. . .you aren't exactly shinobi material, that's a given. But you have higher marks in general studies and considering who your dad is-"  
"Actually, I was offered an apprenticeship a couple of weeks ago. Waiting for the council to pass the papers and depending on if I pass physical training and keep my grades up in general education. . .I'm good to go."  
"Really?" Kasumi asked, raising her eyebrows. She seemed impressed with Kensei for once. He might not have been able to fight like the most of their class, but he was damn sure going to be the most important when they were out of the academy.

"And just what would my little Ken-chan be doing?" She smirked, drinking some of the alcohol in her glass, cringing and coughing. Kensei's father had a penchant for foreign liquor. He had different tastes than most people. It was some kind of weird, clear booze Kensei never really knew the name of. It had a V in it, he knew that much.  
"Blacksmithing. I'd apprentice for Tameyoshi-sama. After a few years, he said depending on how well I do, I'd be able to open up my own shop in the village or keep working with him. I'll make three times as much as my dad does right now." He sipped his own alcohol, wincing but otherwise unfazed. He had been on many trips out of Kusagakure with his father to trade, all of which invariably started with them and a shop owner going to a bar.

Maybe that's how Kensei got started on that long path of alcoholism later on in his life. Or maybe it was just a sign of the times progressively getting worse. Or some other deeply-worded and overly thought out phrase he could think of. Whatever.  
"Wow. That's actually kind of fitting for you! I mean, you're great at the selling portion of things in school, but when it comes to getting the stuff to sell – at least from what you've told me – it's harder, isn't it?"  
"Quite a bit, actually. And that's where I lose a lot of the money."

He learned a lot about 'supply and demand' from his father. Free market trade, dictatorships and the problems they caused with trading certain goods, going door to door when there wasn't a local market or a government to sell to. Long wagon rides spent talking about school, food, sports, goods, women, his one friend, that girl who refers to him as /her/ 'little Ken-chan', about what to say.  
Which is probably why Kensei said what he did.

"Kasumi, do you like me?" He blurted out. Must have been the alcohol. There was no second thinking those words, they just rushed out of him as soon as his brain connected the letters together to make the sentence. That wonderful, sickeningly painful nervousness that fluttered around his stomach, swirling the already churning liquids into a whirlpool.  
Kasumi opened her mouth to speak, quickly closing it in order to think, her cheeks getting red. Well, redder.

And then she got upset with him. She looked angry, like he said something wrong and she shoved him.  
"Shit Kensei, you have one glass of alcohol and all of a sudden you're weird."  
"Not even." He shot back. "You call me your Ken-chan, you chase off girls that talk to me, you follow me around school, the village and want me to take you out on 'not-dates' but hit me when I mention how they're 'not-dates'. Either you like me or you don't."  
Kensei didn't realize how much it had bothered him until he said everything. It was years of confusion and frustration pushed into one moment. He watched her look down, a mixture of hate and sadness in his mind. He wanted to yell at her more. For once, Kensei wanted to be the person in their friendship- which might soon be over because of this statement- that had a say.

Then she shot forward and kissed him.

And that's usually when Kensei woke up.

* * *

Kensei's eyes opened slowly, a sigh escaping his mouth. He rubbed his eyelids free of whatever the hell kept his eyes closed when he was asleep. One day he'd have a proper name for that stuff. Once they were cleared, he opened them and looked up at the ceiling. As he listened to the sounds of a bustling village outside, he tried to replay some of the images from his dream. Bits and pieces passed by before he remembered it all. He was drunk when everything happened, but it was still clear in his mind for some reason. It was a good memory. One of many.

But today was going to be busy. There wasn't going to be time for reminiscing. That also meant he'd have to wake Naruto up. His son never was one for getting up early. If anything, he wasn't really one for getting up, period. Left to his own devices, with no one to wake him up, Kensei guessed Naruto could go a few days straight without even leaving his bed. Until he got hungry, that is.

Kensei swung his legs over the side of the couch and sat up, stretching lightly. He could hear and feel a few bones pop, groaning as it happened. The bed in the guest room would definitely be where he spent the rest of their nights in Konoha. The elder smith stood up and made his way to the master bedroom, knocking on the door for a moment, not getting a response.  
"Kid, get up. We have shit to do today." Kensei shouted from behind the door, a mumble followed by a groggy 'Ok.' was the only response he got.

The redhead stalked into the kitchen, his brain clicking for a moment, resulting in a sigh. In all the commotion yesterday, he had forgotten to get food for breakfast. Naruto would be most displeased with-  
Knock-knock-knock.  
Visitors. At roughly seven in the morning. That was just unheard of, especially in a place where Kensei could count the people he knew on one hand.

Kensei made his way to the front door, opening it slightly to see who was outside. It was quickly pushed all the way open and Kensei felt arms wrapped around his waist. He struggled to not tip over and slam his head into the wall.  
"I was busy cleaning the house this morning when I realized my cousin is only a few blocks away!" Kensei tried not to call Kushina crazy.  
"You're crazy."

He always was a dumb ass when it came to things like that.  
"Idiot!" The hug suddenly got tighter, making the smith cough and wheeze.  
"What- what I meant to say was I'm glad you- you could stop by!" The clamp around his ribs lessened, allowing the air back into his lungs. He got a few deep breaths in, making sure everything was working alright before looking at his cousin. Kushina had what looked like a bag filled to the top with groceries.  
"Also, I remembered how much of your time we took up yesterday. Thought you might like a nice breakfast."

"Thanks cuz." Kensei smirked, letting her walk by and into the kitchen. "Uhh. . .are you planning on following me around the entire time I'm in Konohagakure?"  
He really needed to learn how to stop doing things like that. Kushina turned slowly, a very placid smile on her face. Those were the scary ones.  
"Why? Would that be a /problem/?" She asked politely.  
". . .No. Just. . .thought you mighta been busy or something."

"No. I told the council while you were here they could talk to Minato about what goes on in the village. And that if any of them interrupted my time with you I would personally disembowel them." The smile she had got cheerier. A little too happy.  
"Ah. Well. Thanks." Kensei nervously scratched his head. Maybe it had been a bit too long since he saw her. She was certainly making it out to seem that way. Then again, it did make him strangely nostalgic and happy to be around her.

"So where's Karin?"  
"She has class in an hour so she's still at home getting ready. Today's her final exam! After she passes we're going to celebrate with some friends! You're coming too." Kensei opened his mouth to explain that he had business to conduct. Things to build with Naruto. A reason for being in the village.  
"No excuses."  
Apparently he was wrong.

"Ok. Well. . .today's a bit busy. Kid and I-"  
"Why do you call him 'Kid'? He's Naruto."  
"Iunno. Habit. He calls me Ken-chan, only right I give him a nickname too, right?"  
Kushina shook her head and walked into the kitchen. "That's not how a father and son should act."  
"Oh come on, my dad called me 'Dumb ass' all the time."  
He received a sideways glace from his cousin. "What? That's like a nickname. . ."

"And I wondered why you grew up like this." Kushina mumbled, taking the food out and looking for the pots and pans.  
"Eh, I was bound to be like this. It's in the Uzumaki blood to curse like a sailor."  
"The hell it is!" He heard from the kitchen, immediately ducking under a steak knife. It stuck into the wall behind Kensei's head. Naruto walked into the living room, rubbing his eyes.  
"Why is there yelling?"

He didn't get an answer, only a swift hug from his red-haired aunt.  
"Oh my Kami, you're like twenty times as cute when you just wake up! Sit next to Kensei so I can remember this moment forever!"  
Naruto tried to protest but was picked up and placed next to his dad, looking confused and tired. The smith smiled apologetically at his son. "Well. . .she is cooking us breakfast."  
Naruto turned back to Kushina, a complacent gaze on his eyes. "Do whatever you want."

Kensei noted how easy it was to control Naruto with the right kind of food. He had always suspected something like that, but he wasn't too great at cooking around the home to really use it as a weapon against his son. Just 'do this or I slap the crap out of you' which worked at times, resulted in him having to chase the blonde down at others. But to each his own.

"Oh you two are so cute!" Kushina's eyes watered, she held her face in her hands, looking at the two Uzumaki males. They both looked like they had just woken up, which to her was adorable. Her favorite/only cousin's messy red hair stuck out in places, the rest of it trailing down to his shoulders. He had taken the time to trim his beard for the first time he had seen his family, his mustache and goatee the same dark red as her own hair.

But Naruto just made the moment. His head was slowly sliding across the back of the couch, finally resting on Kensei's shoulder. He started to snore lightly, mouth open. It took all of Kushina's quickly dwindling restraint to not squeel after seeing such "adorable cuteness". She promised herself that one of these mornings she'd make sure Karin came with her. That way the cuteness triangle could be complete.

"Cuz. . .we gotta go in a bit. . . ."  
Kushina's smile slowly faded, a glare Kensei was starting to get used to replacing it.  
"I mean, if it's not too much trouble. Cause I love you so much."  
"D'aww!" Kushina's smile came back, Kensei wincing as he was hugged tightly.  
"Well I'll get to cooking so we can be on our way!"

* * *

"So why do you do that?"  
"It's called quenching and it hardens the steel." Kensei answered, trying not to cry. It was almost like reliving the earlier years with Naruto. His cousin wanted to talk to him, but all she could think to ask about right now was the steps of smithing.  
"Hey Auntie Ku-ku, wanna see my ax I'm workin' on?!" Naruto smiled and jumped up and down in front of his aunt, excited to have someone talking as much as him. And for some reason, despite calling her 'Ku-ku', she refrained from punching the blonde through the ground itself.

"Of course, Naruto." She smiled broadly, the young boy quickly taking his ax-head out of the cloth pouch Kensei had been keeping it in for him. He held it out for her to take, the female Uzumaki doing so and being a little surprised by it's weight.  
"Wow, this is. . .nice." She said, like a mother would to a child that handed her a hand-drawn painting.  
"I know, it looks like a pile of turds made out of metal, but when I'm done it'll be fancier than anything Ken-chan has ever made!" Naruto smirked prior to sticking his tounge out at his father.

"Oi kid, keep that up and you'll have to make your own crossbow too. On your own, might I add, no input from me." Naruto withdrew slightly, scratching his head now. "You know I was kiddin' around, right dad?"  
"Oh my KAMI!" Kushina picked Naruto up, holding him tightly. "HE CALLED YOU DAD!"  
"I know. . .I was there for it." Kensei shook his head, just wanting things to calm down. Maybe once they met the smith they'd be working with/around, the two of them would relax. Or at least show some form of shame for being so obnoxiously loud.

As they came up to the front of the forge, Kensei could make out the tapping of an anvil, the noise making him smile slightly. Naruto jumped out of Kushina's arms, having wrestled his way out rather quickly. "Ken-chan, I wanna work on the ax now! Can I? Can I?! Can I?!"  
"Hold on Naruto, we need to introduce ourselves. What have I told you about being respectful-"  
"OI, Shunsuke, GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!" Kushina shouted, her face a mix of rage and annoyed.

"Ah, that must be our Hokage's Wife! Only such a spirited woman could give such a wonderful hello!" The owner of the smith came out of his forge, smiling. Other than wearing a matching grey shirt and pants, he was covered in traditional smith garb: Apron, thick gloves and a headband covering his forehead to stop the sweat from getting into his eyes. He looked a decade or so older than Kensei, his hair completely gone. He also had a squint to his eyes like he was sizing the new smith up, checking Naruto as well. Naruto, unfazed, smiled and looked back at him.  
"Hi old man!"

Thwack.  
"The hell Ken-chan?!"  
Thwack.  
"OW!"  
"Don't curse and what have I told you about respecting people?"  
". . .Don't unless they deserve it?"  
Thwack.  
"Ow, what the hell, cuz?"  
Thwack.  
"OW."  
"Don't curse and teach your son such bullshit!"

The male two Uzumaki rubbed the back of their heads, sore from being hit. Shunsuke shook his head disapprovingly then stuck his hand out for Kensei to take. The two smiths shook hands.  
"It's a pleasure to meet such a renowned person working in our craft."  
"That's a bit much, all I did is make one eighth the weapons of a quality smith such as yourself. And very half-assed weapons at that." Kensei laughed nervously.  
"Ken-chan, you make the best stuff ever! I know, cause I'm gonna be the best smith ever and that means I have to have been taught by the best smith ever!" Naruto shouted, excited.  
". . .Despite the failing logic of that sentence. . .thanks kid."

"So I was hoping to introduce myself, my son and apprentice Naruto, and maybe get a look around the forge itself. See where we'll be working."  
"Sounds like a plan. My daughter is actually in the forge right now, bending one of her swords back to it's original shape. Actually, your son looks about her age."  
Naruto perked up after hearing this. He had someone other than Karin his age here too? This village had /two/ kids his age? This place had everything.

"We'll say hello as I show you around." Shunsuke noticed Naruto's change in demeaner, smirking. His daughter wasn't exactly out much, instead staying around with him and working on whatever new weapons she managed to get her hands on. But such was the life of shinobi's parent. He led the Uzumakis into the forge, Kushina confused yet trying to act as though she knew all of what the three males in front of her talked about.

Kensei had to admit, for a family-run forge, it was impressive. It was almost the size of the government-sponsored forge in the Land of Iron, but it had a certain. . .homey feel. The anvils placed perfectly next to the open ovens, the chemical water only an arm's length away, quick to access. It was more knowledgeably done than having an architect run around and try to make it cost-effective. It was something he would have done.

The tell-tale sounds of metal striking metal took the group's attention as they saw a young girl working on a dao-styled sword. It was almost perfectly straight, a bright orange hue to it as she hammered it with her weighted mallet. She looked up quickly and saw that she was being watched, laughing nervously and putting the sword in a tough filled with water. As the sizzling faded and the steam rose, she wiped off the sweat that had been building on her forehead. Her brown hair was rolled up into two buns on both sides of her head, she was wearing a pink, sleeveless silk top and green pants.

"Good Morning Lady Uzumaki." The girl bowed lightly, turning to her dad after she rose up. "Are these the two smiths?"  
"I'm Naruto!" the blonde exclaimed, unwilling to wait for his own introduction. He smiled broadly and ran over, looking at the sword in the chemical bath, taking it out and lifting it up. He checked the straightness of the metal, the girl annoyed.  
"Hey! Be careful, I just spent an hour on that!"  
"I can tell, it's still bent in some places. And you haven't curved the edge yet."  
Thwack.  
"Ow!" Naruto rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. "I was just being truthful!"

Kensei sighed and covered his eyes, apologizing to Shunsuke.  
"Sorry. He's. . .not right in the head."  
"Oh no, he's fine, my daughter is just very stubborn. 'Set in her ways' is the polite term, I believe."  
"Dad!"  
"What? Do you have a problem with people who tell the truth?"  
Kensei could already tell that this man and him were going to get along just fine.

* * *

Naruto watched as his father started work on the first sword of the day, getting his tools set out next to the anvil. He wanted to work on his own ax, but he knew that it was more important to help the customer than work on his own project. At least that's what his dad had told him. When it came to smithing, he'd do exactly as Kensei told him – Over the years, he had come to idolize all of what his adoptive father had come to be to him.

He taught Naruto about the world they lived in, and when he didn't know, made sure one of his many friends or buyers fixed the problem. They were never hungry, and Kensei bought Naruto whatever he wanted; Which tended not to be much other than ramen. And most of all, the elder Uzumaki spent time with him. True to his word, Kensei made sure there was rarely a moment in the years Naruto was alive where the two of them were separated.

Kensei also taught Naruto anything the blonde wanted to know about smithing. How to smelt ores, how to chemically treat metals, wood working when the occasion called for it, how to draw out plans for a project and in the past few days, how to maintain a crossbow. It was scary to Kensei how quickly Naruto picked up when it came to the weapon. Almost upon being told it was his, he emptied his mind of everything other than food, smithing and learning the various bits and pieces to the old weapon. He had even sanded it himself, something Kensei had neglected for years.

"Fuuuuuuhhhhh-" Kensei held his hand, cutting off his curse and wincing, eyes closed. Naruto snapped out of his daydreaming and walked over to his father, interested in what happened. "Not paying attention or did you just see a bug?" The older Uzumaki let out a "shut up" before taking his glove off and looking at the now purple bruise making it's way onto his hand.  
"Well, that's going to hurt for a few days."

"What?! What happened?! Are you ok?! Do you still have all your fingers?! Is my little cousin going to die?!" Kushina ran over, having been talking to Shunsuke about his daughter's passing the exam a few days prior. She turned Kensei around, looking at his hand and seeing the bruise, she kept checking him over to make sure nothing was bleeding or broken or missing. She hugged him tightly, almost cutting off his air. "It's ok, your cousin will take care of you and your son from now on! You'll just have to move into the guest house and live with us forever!"

Kensei pulled away, putting his glove back on. "As much as it sounds enticing to never work again. . .regular occurrence when your working with metal and mallets." Kushina took a few steps back but now watched her cousin as he continued to work, nervous as he kept hitting the metal or putting it back over the coals and roaring fire. It was like watching her almost-brother juggle knives or something. She had always worried about those close to her, but with Kensei it was a bit different.

He never had much chakra so she worried he would be picked on. She might have been the container for the Kyuubi when they were younger, but at least she had large amounts of chakra and ninjutsu to rely on. After she got older. Ironically enough, he was the one who used to chase off villagers that bad mouthed her when ever he visited. But she knew he was her only blood relative alive so the thought of losing him hurt her deeply. And so, despite her best efforts, she watched over him. It was the reason she wanted to keep him in Konoha- It was the reason she was here in the forge this early in the day when she wanted to just sleep.

Kensei pulled the sword up and looked at it to make sure the folds had been done properly. "Alright. . .blade's done on the first one, Naruto, you can work on the ax-head if you want or spend some time with your lovely auntie Kushina-"  
"I'm gonna work on my ax!" Naruto didn't even wait for the other options, he just took his half-finished weapon piece and took off into the forge towards a free furnace. Kushina felt a mix of anger and sadness at Naruto's passing over her so quickly.

"He's a kid, he's a bit of an idiot and he's hyperactive. But he /does/ love his auntie Kushina. I can tell." Kensei mentioned, noticing the look on his cousin's face.  
"How?"  
"He didn't call you 'old lady' or 'strange woman' once. That's a pretty good sign."  
". . .seriously, did you even /try/ to teach him how to act around other people?"  
"Tried, failed. I. . .um. . .think he might have spent a little too much time around me when I'm talking to the dock workers in Wave."  
"Oh Kami, he literally will be talking like a sailor!" Kushina covered her head, trying to ignore the thoughts of a foul-mouthed nephew running around and doing nefarious things.

". . .And it's all your fault. . ." Kensei felt the glare even without looking at her. There was no saving himself from this one. He could give her one of twenty excuses and all of them would just fall short.  
"So how do I get out of this without being punched in the face?"  
"By doing something you really don't want to do."  
". . .if it's what I'm thinking of, I rather have you punch me in the /balls/."  
"It may very well come down to that, Kensei." The hokage's wife moved into view of her cousin while he stared at the finished blade in front of him.

"It's been ten years."  
"Like I haven't kept track of the date or anything-"  
"Kensei Uzumaki, you don't get to be an asshole about this. You're going to shut the hell up and do what I tell you."  
Kensei looked up at Kushina. "You don't get to talk to me about this like you /know/ what the fuck I went through."  
"They were my family too!"  
"It was MY dad, it was my-" Kensei hit the anvil with his fist, ignoring the pain that coursed through his already bruised hand, his mind buried too deep in the rage of what they were talking about. The subject was still very sore with him. Kushina had stepped back when Kensei had lashed out, surprised at how he had reacted. He immediately felt sorry.  
". . . .Kushina-"  
"No, no, it's ok. . .I shouldn't push you."

"No, I get it. I'll. . .I'll go. Just. . .it's not something I'd ever thought I'd be able to. . .do." Kensei pulled his hand back from the anvil, looking down at the small red marks his knuckles had left, the blood trailing down his hand in a thin line across every knuckle. He walked over to the table he had been keeping all of his tools on, taking a piece of cloth and wrapping it around his hand, he looked around for Naruto. The boy was deep in work on his ax and had missed the outburst.

"I'll go soon. Just let me make two more swords. And I need to go alone so just tell the kid I went to the bar or something."  
"Ok."  
He watched as his cousin walked over to Naruto, talking with him about his life. In an hour he'd be leaving to go to the one place in the village he had tried to forget. But that was family for you, they would make sure you never forgot.  
And Kensei had almost managed to forget how much hated graveyards.

* * *

Naruto had tried to convince his aunt that he was ok to work by himself, but she insisted on staying near him. At least until she got a message from Minato wondering what kind of cake they should order for Karin's graduation party. As quickly as she had joined him, she had taken off towards the village, at speeds that made Naruto's brain hurt to comprehend. He had been working on his ax for the entirety of an hour. The forge, spewing heat all around with the roaring fire inside of it, made Naruto sweat heavily. He placed the hammer down on the anvil he was using then, with the tongs, he carefully put the heated metal into the water beside him, leaning away from the steam.

He took a deep breath and walked away from the forge, sitting down outside and wiping his forehead clear of the moisture that had been building. His father was still working on the swords, the elder Uzumaki having set a pace through-out the years that Naruto was eager to match when it came to crafting their wares. But for right now, the blonde was satisfied with having finished the metalworking of his ax. Now he would have to prepare for the woodworking aspect – a part he was slightly better with. Using a blade on a hunk of wood was simpler, it didn't tire his arms out as fast and it allowed him to work wherever he pleased.

Naruto turned to his left, hearing footsteps get closer. He smiled slightly when he saw Tenten, the young blacksmith/ninja looking down at him.  
"So how are you liking the forge?"  
"It's nice! It's pretty close to the one we have set up at home. Some parts are a little farther apart or placed differently, but it's almost the same." Naruto cracked his back lightly, groaning. Tenten chuckled.  
"Such an old-man move."

"Why thank you!" Naruto beamed at being called old. He still saw aging as something to look forward too. It meant you 'succeeded at not dying' and it was admired to 'age with grace and dignity'. Also, he would be able to call people names and get away with pranks more, because really, who berated an elderly man for that kind of stuff?  
Tenten saw Naruto's crossbow, reaching over to pick it up, she was quickly cut off by the same smiling boy.  
"Hey, look with your eyes, not your hands."  
"Sorry, it's just a really nice bow."  
"I know...I take care of it." Naruto rubbed a smudge of dirt off of the side of it. He looked up at the girl, a look he deemed 'the sad female' all over her face. It had been used many a time on his father to great effect, but there was one big difference: Naruto lacked manners.

"Why do you look like someone stepped on your foot?"  
Tenten's face grew red with anger as she punched his arm. "What the hell?!" Naruto shouted, rubbing his arm with his free hand.  
"Just let me see the damn bow!"  
"Uhh no."  
She reached over, taking it from Naruto, using her right arm to keep him away while she studied it. Naruto hated how short he was- most kids two years younger than him were taller. After struggling for a few minutes, he gave up, rubbing his eyes in frustration. "Just. . .be careful, please."

"Oh, cause I was going to use it as a mallet." Tenten said sarcastically as she held the crossbow properly and looked down the arrow rest. Naruto wasn't kidding when said he had taken care of it. The line that held the bolts was perfectly straight, not even a centimeter off it's mark. The two limbs on the end of the bow held the rope taut, even without being pulled all the way back to its latch. The forearm had been sanded down recently and lovingly, all of the old wood rounded off to an almost polished sheen. It was a very nice bow indeed.

"Did you make this?" She asked, handing it back to Naruto. He took it carefully and set it down beside him, in between the two.

"Nah, Ken-chan did. I think he said he made it about three years before he adopted me. He said it was right around the time he moved from Kusagakure."  
"Why do you call him Ken-chan if he's your dad?"  
"Cause he's my dad so it doesn't really matter. That and I've just always called him that." Naruto smirked, remembering the first time he had called his father by that nickname.

"Well, anyways, he made a really nice crossbow. And you did some cool alterations." Tenten sighed. "I wish I was that good."  
"What do you mean? The sword you made earlier was alright, it just needed some more folds."  
"But that's just it, I never make weapons of /great/ quality, just good enough. Between training to become a shinobi and working around the shop I never really get time to smith."  
"Ok, I can barely make a blade better than you and I've been doing this and only this for five years! Shit, you're a ninja and a smith? That's freakin' awesome by itself! You literally get to use what you make!"

Tenten's face once more became red, but this time due to the compliments. "Thanks."  
"No problem." Naruto smiled at Tenten before turning around to find his father. He was absent from the forge. The blonde Uzumaki stood up and looked around for his dad, confused as to where he would have gone.  
"Hey, did you see where Ken-chan went?"  
"Yeah, he was headed down the street over there." Tenten pointed to their left. Naruto felt a sting of betrayal- Kensei always told Naruto where he was going, even if it was only for a few moments. Whatever his father was doing, he didn't want Naruto to know about it.

"Hey, are you busy later today?" Naruto asked while he packed up his bow and jogged over to the forge he was using, taking the now cooled ax head and wrapping it in cloth.  
"No, I was just gonna work around the for-"  
"You should stop by my aunt's tonight, we're having a big thing for my cousin Karin because she's graduating." Naruto cut her off, looking around once more to make sure he had all his belongings.  
Tenten's face turned an even darker red than before. _He's inviting me to a family celebration? But I just met him!_  
"You know where my aunt lives, right?" Naruto looked over at her, a little worried by the color of her face. He tilted his head. "Are you ok?"  
"Yes and yes! I'll see you later!" She shouted, quickly taking off towards her house, slamming the door behind her. Naruto shook his head lightly and made his way down the street after Kensei. While he didn't know where he was headed, he had to admit, today was weird.

Kensei took a few deep breaths as he walked through the field, making sure to keep a respectful distance away from the tombstones he wasn't there to visit. He always tried to be proper when it came to matters such as the dead and those who were mourning the ones they had lost. It was a subject he understood deeply. It was the reason he stayed away for so long.

As he came to the part of the graveyard he knew all too well in his mind, he stopped in front of two stone markers. He ran his hand over the top of the first one on the left, placing one of the knives he had made on the part of the stone his hand had been. The grave keepers had kept very good care of the two tombstones. He'd make sure to thank them in some manner when he could. But his mind was trailing away from the reason he was there.

Kensei rubbed his eyes once, forcing the pain and stinging from them away. He smiled and looked down at the name on the front of the stone. It made his heart hurt and beat faster than he had hoped for, bringing back the same sting to his eyes.

"Hey dad. . ."

Just saying those words felt weird. Not wrong, just. . .painful. Like the words themselves bruised his lungs and mouth. They didn't sound right, they came out broken and in different tones. He cleared his throat and closed his eyes for a few moments, clearing it as best he could.

"It's been a while, old man. I uh. . .I'm not good for this stuff. You know that. It was the same for grandma's funeral, at yours-" Kensei coughed, clearing his throat again. "Alright, let's just forget about that. You were there. You know what it was like." Kensei smirked, knowing his father would have chuckled at that himself.

"But anyways. . .I have a son now. Adopted really, so don't get too excited. His name is Naruto Uzumaki. That's right, I gave him our last name. I think- I know you'd like the kid. He's a bit on the slow side sometimes, but he's a hard worker. Happy. Committed. He's my apprentice too, great at it. He'll be better than me one day even though he says he won't." Kensei took a moment to let his mind wander. He hoped his dad would have been proud of him. Of how things were /now/. Not when he was in his house, drunk out of his mind, alone, waiting to be out of food and booze before he took another job. Hating the world. Trying to drink himself so far into that dark land of unconsciousness that one day he would just stay there.

"I wish you were here. You'd be better at this shit than I ever was." Kensei stood up abruptly. He leaned over and put his forehead against the cold stone, his eyes closed. It was a family tradition to do this at a relative's tombstone. It showed how close you were in life and death. That even with them physically gone, they were still in your thoughts.

He stood up straight and took another deep breath. His head turned to the tombstone next to his father's. He felt like his breakfast was about to spew out of his mouth. Fighting back the new-found pain in his chest he made his way the few feet over to the tombstone. He calmly sat on his knees, putting his forehead against the stone and closing his eyes. His thoughts drifted to better times- times when he still had most of his family. His brain lost the words he had planned to tell his second visitor. Kensei stood up, bowed his head down to the tombstone once more, holding it there longer than he had with his father's.

"I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you. I miss you and I wish I was dead. I wish I had died, I wish I had been smarter, chose a different job, been a better husband-" Kensei felt the tears sliding out of his eyes. His words came out broken and in a stream. It hurt him to say them but he felt like he had to get it out. They were eating their way out of him.

"I love you. I always did. I would have loved our child- Fuck!" Kensei hit his head against the stone once, fighting to keep himself composed. He let the air in then out of his lungs. In, then out. He lifted his head up and kissed the stone once, placing an iron ring on the top of the tombstone, similar to the gold one on the other side. The grave keepers had done a nice job of keeping the graveyard in order. He'd have to thank them for that.

"I love you Kasumi."

* * *

Naruto wiped the tears away from his face and opened the front door to his aunt's house. She /had/ told him he was welcome to visit whenever he wanted to. "Auntie?" He asked, his voice a little weak. Kushina walked into the front room, the smile she had quickly fading as she walked faster to Naruto and knelt down, putting her arms around the young boy in a light hug. "What's wrong sweety?"  
"I was following Ken-chan and he went to the graveyard and he was really sad and cursing and he said he wished he had died!" Naruto spat all the words out, crying heavily when he reached the last part. The red-headed woman holding him sighed and kept her arms around the sobbing blonde.

"I'm sorry Naruto. . .Kensei lost people very close to him over something he believes is his fault. I'm sure he didn't mean what he said."  
"Auntie, who's Kasumi?" Naruto asked, sniffling. Kushina pulled back and contemplated telling the young Uzumaki about his father's most sensitive subject.

"She was my fiance."  
The two turned and saw Kensei coming in from the kitchen. "I figured I'd show up a little early. Used the back door cause you're always in the kitchen." He walked over and nodded his head towards the couch in the living room for Naruto to follow him and sit down on it. When the two men managed to sit down, Kensei scratched his head and looked like he was in thought.

"Alright, what have I told you about my-"  
"Ken-chan, don't wish you were dead!" Naruto shouted, still worried about what he had heard his father say earlier. Kensei winced and put his arm around Naruto's shoulder, pulling the boy a little closer to him in a half-hug. "Trust me, I don't. Things just get emotional when I think about my old life- just don't worry, ok?" Kensei smiled at his son, the blonde wearily nodding, already feeling better.

"Alright. I remember telling you about my dad, but not about his funeral. About what happened. We'll get to that. Right now. . .I'll tell you about Kasumi Sugitani. Uzumaki I should say. I ended up marrying her- Ok, I'm ahead of myself, I'll tell you from the beginning."

"So Kasumi and I were best friends. Our parents were friends and they wanted us to be friends. So we did and it was good. When we got older, I was going to be a smith after I graduated and she was registered as a shinobi. I loved her, she loved me. We got engaged. She was on leave for about the same time I started up my smithing business in town. She liked to help me out around the forge, said how cute I looked working. Stuff like that."

Kensei smirked and patted Naruto's shoulder, the boy laughing slightly. "After I set up, I worked for Kusagakure- That's where I used to live. Born and raised by my old man over there. Mom died when I was little, he was a trader. Anyways, I already had a name out for myself when I worked for my smithing master, Tameyoshi Marusa. Dad was a real hardcore national. Loved Kusa, made sure that his taxes were always over-done for the village. Kasumi and her parents were the same, whole family went back to the start of the village or something, probably helped found the damn place."

"So it was a given that I was going to work for our government. I made weapons on discount for the ninja, stuff for the council, people from Kusa got special loans. The whole thing. And when we went to war with Konohagakure, Kiri and Sand against Oto, I refused to sell weapons to the village. They even sent an envoy to my forge to try and pay me more than usual. I politely told him I couldn't due to "our village being in an active war with Otogakure. I would love to help the village when such a time of peace could be met between us, but until then I was bound my trade restrictions and political conflicts of interest."

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked, confused with all the words Kensei had used.  
"A very proper way of telling him to get lost." Naruto laughed and Kensei did as well. "He was so pissed, shouting and trying to threaten me and Kasumi. I didn't like that too much so I showed him my little knife trick. He got real quiet after that and left without any trouble. At the time, at least. So everything was fine- Oh, I forgot to mention, I asked Kasumi to marry me about three weeks before that. She said yes, gave her a ring I made in the forge without her knowing. Gold, big fat diamond, she was all tears and hugs."

Kensei sighed wistfully and rubbed his forehead, noting that he'd need a few drinks before the graduation party started.

"I waited until she got home, we had a nice dinner together, I told her I loved her and we went to sleep. Next day, she was gone. So was my old man and her parents. I told the council, they said they'd look into it. I got a message later that told me I needed to double the original load out for Oto and they'd let my family go. I did it, I got a private transport to Otogakure and I went into the village with my weapons. They. . ." Kensei sighed once more. "They took me on the outskirts, showed me my family and then they killed them. They stabbed my father in the chest, they stabbed Kasumi's mom in the neck, her dad in the heart and they slit her throat. I managed to kill eight of the shinobi watching over me, took two spears to my side, a knife or a kunai to my back and I think someone burned my leg or threw acid at it or froze it. That's how I got my scars. When I fell down, they asked the lead ninja there what to do with me."

"He said to let me go. Let me go back to Kusagakure as a traitor. To let me live with the knowledge that the weapons I made were used to kill those I loved. That /my/ work killed /my/ family. And my unborn child." Kensei saw tears coming from Naruto's eyes and he wiped them away, looking at him seriously.  
"That's why we don't sell to Otogakure, and that's why we get to know our customers. If we don't stick to that. . .you'll never know what your weapons will do. Who they'll hurt."

Naruto nodded slightly and rested his head against Kensei's arm, processing all of what he had just learned about his father.  
". . .What was Kasumi like?"  
Kensei could feel his lips turning up into a smile.  
"She was a great woman. Very dedicated to her training. . .stubborn. . .a happy person. She would have loved to meet you."  
". . .could I come with you next time?"  
". . . .yeah. I'd. . .She would have definitely liked that."

Kensei looked down at the wood bar in front of him, his mind wandering like it always did. Especially when he drank. Today had been a flurry of memories involving his life before everything changed. After explaining to Naruto about Kasumi, he asked Kushina to watch the blonde while he 'went out.' Code between the cousins for 'to the nearest place serving alcohol.'

Kensei drank some of his beer, wincing as he did. He never really liked the taste, just the feeling that came with it. It calmed him, mellowed him out, let his mind go to it's natural state of wandering. It was harder to do in a bar where the women were pretty and actively laughing twenty decibels louder than what was humanly possible to hear.

"Do my eyes deceive me or is that red-headed idiot sitting at the bar Kushina's favorite punching bag?"

_Speaking of annoying, pretty women._

"No, it's Kensei alright. And I'm guessing by the stupid statement and voice that sounds like she smoked a thousand cigarettes, it's Anko."  
He turned around already expecting the sight before him: A purple haired, scantily clad woman. She had grown from the last time they had seen each other, but she was still a bit shorter than him. The tan coat she wore over the mesh top fit her a little tight, the skirt she wore having a similar fit. Anko took a seat next to him and motioned the bartender for a bottle of sake.

"So what brings you back to our little village? Last time I remember you being here was about close to fifteen years ago."  
"It's flattering you kept track." Kensei smirked, seeing Anko turn a little red and indignant. "I'm back to see Kushina. Heard she had a daughter who was going to graduate, got an order to make some weapons, figured what the hell. Besides, my kid's never seen Konoha before."  
She rose an eyebrow. "Your kid? I feel sorry for the woman stuck with you."  
Kensei's eye twitched in anger. "Adopted him."  
"Ahh, that makes a lot more sense. Still, now I feel sorry for your kid."  
"Is there any particular reason you're bugging me or do you just like bothering me?"  
"A bit of column a and b. I was bored, saw you, figured it's been a while, might as well chase you out of here as soon as possible."

Kensei sighed heavily and drank some of his beer. Anko opened her bottle of sake and did the same.  
"So you're going to Karin's graduation party?" Anko asked, putting her sake down and coughing lightly.  
"Yeah. She threatened me with castration, death- which was going to be slow, by the way- and even the dismantling of my forge back in Wave if I didn't show up."  
"Aww, she loves her little cousin."  
"I'm older."  
"Aww, you think that matters."

"You know, most people would say this is flirting."  
"You wish, red-headed retard."  
"Purple-haired whore."  
"Your beard looks like a dead squirrel!" Anko turned to face Kensei.  
"Your /face/ looks like a dead squirrel!" Kensei glared back at Anko.  
"I will end you!" Anko stood up immediately, almost knocking her bottle of sake over.  
"I'd love to see you try!" Kensei got off his chair, forgoing his mental instincts not to fight with a woman.

"Ahem."  
The duo turned their heads to the right and saw the bar owner, his eyebrow twitching.  
"Get the hell out of my establishment."  
"But I'm not drunk yet-"  
"But I just got here-"  
"DID I SAY I GAVE A SHIT?!" The owner hopped over the bar and grabbed them both by the ear, pulling one of them on both sides to the door.  
When they got to the front he let them go, pointing at them like they were dogs. "BAD. Bad." And with that, he walked back into his bar.

"Well. . ."  
"This sucks."  
Kensei and Anko looked at each other before laughing at their shared statement.  
"So much for getting an after-work drink."  
"Hey, why don't you stop by the party later? I'm sure Kushina wouldn't mind one of the teachers stopping by to wish Karin well."  
Anko thought for a moment before playfully shoving Kensei's arm. "Sly move Uzumaki. Invite a gal over for drinks at a family gathering. You're quick."  
"Wait, what?" Kensei thought for a moment what he had implied and Anko's own words. "No, wait, what I meant was because we got kicked out-"  
"Oh no, it's ok, I know what you meant." Anko smiled.

"I'll be there tonight. We can talk a bit about old times, I can tell you how much you suck at smithing, you can talk about how pretty I am and how all other women pale in comparison to me."  
"What?!" Kensei shouted, about to berate her.  
"I expect at least two bottles of sake and one mentioning of how I'm perfect." Anko smiled before waving and walking away from the smith.  
". . .Ok, what the /hell/ just happened?" Kensei rubbed his forehead, trying to work the entire conversation out in his mind. ". . .Yeah, I'll need to buy five bottles of sake. Two for her, three for the headache I'll have."

Naruto yawned deeply and tried to keep his eyes open, his head supported by his arm. After his father had left, his aunt had asked him to help prepare for Karin's party. He had moved banners around, lifted food from one part of the house to the other, been hugged, told he was adorable, pinched on the cheeks at least six times and bopped on the head twice. And he was still tired from having gotten up so early.

However, it was nice being around his 'aunt'. It felt strange knowing he had other family members aside from Kensei. Sure, they weren't his /real/ family, but Kensei was his father. He didn't care that some stupid pieces of paper said he was adopted, as far as he was concerned, the smith was half the reason he was birthed. Or at least that's what he assumed, still knowing very little about the 'birds and the bees' as Kensei had mentioned then evaded. Whatever the case was, Kushina was his aunt, Karin was his cousin and his uncle was the freakin' Hokage.

"I'M A NINJA!" Naruto almost fell off the couch, his arm sliding sharply as the voice carried from across the room. Karin had opened the door and took off into the home, entirely ignoring anything else. She had a new headband Naruto had caught glimpses of across the elemental nations with his father. His cousin wore her's around her head proudly, hugging her mom tightly. "I'm a ninja, mom!"  
"Congratulations!" Kushina laughed and hugged her daughter back, fondly remembering her own graduation from the academy. And the prompt ass whooping she had unleashed on Minato when he tried to ask her out on a celebratory date.

Karin looked around the house, noting all of the banners and food, finally seeing Naruto. The blonde smiled and held his arms up in what he considered a victory sign. "Happy graduation day Karin-chan!"  
The red head blushed slightly, realizing how she had acted when she had come into the house. "T-thanks Naruto."  
The blonde sat up and cracked his back before hugging Karin, the young girl hugging him back. "So how was the test?" Kushina asked her daughter.  
"It was pretty easy, we just had to show them a bushin and pass a general taijutsu test." Karin walked over to the kitchen, hungry from her last day of class.

Naruto had already gotten into the food, finally full for the first time in a long time. Kushina didn't hold back – she had made more than enough food for just the 'family'. She knew a little bit about graduation parties. And the fact that her husband rarely came home from work without his friend and former student, Kakashi. Also, Naruto had seemingly invited Tenten to the party, making Kushina ask him a flurry of questions he felt uncomfortable with.

'Do you like her? Do you have proper clothes to wear at the party? Did Kensei talk to you about women? If he did, ignore most of it.'  
Naruto wondered if all relatives treated their family like this or if his was special.  
"Karin, do you know the village smith's daughter?"  
"Her name is Tenten, right?" Karin asked after she finished her water.  
"Yes, that's the one."  
"Yeah, she's pretty cool! She can throw kunai, shuriken and uses weapons really well!" Karin laughed, remembering when she had unleashed an entire scroll's worth of weapons on Lee, the green-clad boy having to run at full speed to not get cut.

"Well she'll be here later." The elder Namikaze girl leaned over and whispered to her daughter.  
"I think Naruto likes her." She beamed happily, hoping that she could set the two of them up. The image of the blonde smith marrying the girl and raising a plethora of tiny baby smiths almost made her squeel with joy at the cuteness of it all. However, Karin didn't seem to like the idea.

"WHAT?!" She shouted, almost knocking her glass over. Her mother blinked, confused as to why Karin would be so apprehensive. Naruto fell off his chair at the shouting, rubbing his side lightly. "Ow. What's wrong Karin-chan?"  
"Uhhh nothing! Just um. . .remembered something so yeah, no worries!" She tuned red and scratched her head sheepishly.  
Kushina's smile came back as she poked Karin's shoulder. "Ohhhhhh, I think I get it now. . ."  
"Mom, shut up!" Karin nervously pulled her sleeve.  
". . .Excuse me young lady?" Kushina glared down at her daughter.  
". . .Moooom!"

"What'd I miss?' Kensei asked, opening the door and looking around the home, noting the decorations. As he caught sight of his cousin and niece, he smiled. "Congrat-"  
"IF YOU EVER TALK TO ME LIKE THAT AGAIN, I'LL MAKE SURE IT'S THE LAST WORDS YOU SPEAK, UNDERSTAND?!"  
"Y-yes ma'am!" Karin said, backing up from her mom.  
Kensei looked back at the door behind him, contemplating how quickly he could escape.  
"Kensei!" Too late. He was almost immediately hugged by Kushina, his stomach churning as she did. He had managed to get a few bottles of alcohol for the adults- and a separate four bottles for him and Anko- already cutting into one of them.

"Hey cuz. Um. . .hurting me a little."  
"Oh, so you can get hurt while smithing and it's fine, but when I hug you-" Kushina started to tear up. Kensei was about to respond when he was hugged even tighter, a sobbing Kushina shaking him left and right. "WHEN DID WE GROW SO FAR APART?!"  
Kensei closed his eyes and tried not to think about the horrible 'I want to vomit' feeling that built inside of him.  
"Cuz. . .stop. . .please. I didn't mean it." He was let go, the woman in front of him perfectly fine, almost like she had never cried only seconds ago.

"Ok, that's all I had to hear!" She took the bags from Kensei. "So what's up with all the alcohol?" Kushina watched as Naruto and Karin took off into the backyard to shoot his crossbow and throw her kunai.  
"Anko'll be stopping by later, I kind of owe her for getting us kicked out of-"  
"Ohhhh!" Kushina tried not to shout with happiness, instead settling on a 'sqeee!' First her nephew invites a girl to a party, then her daughter gets jealous/nervous around said boy, and now Kensei was having his /own/ lady-friend over at her house? It was like she died and went to cute heaven.

"I'd really like it if you didn't make a big deal out of this Kushina, I just owe her a few drinks."  
"Ok, ok. . .I'll behave, I promise! Besides, I'll be too busy with making sure the party goes smoothly." Kushina crossed her fingers behind her back. She was going to interfere as much as possible, after all, it was /her/ house.  
"I highly doubt that, but thanks cuz." Kensei sighed, knowing his cousin would bug him and Anko all night. It was one big mistake to invite the psychotic shinobi over in the first place, but to put her in range of his insane cousin? Kensei was just ruining his own life at this point. He really had a knack for that kind of thing.

"Ken-chan, you said you were inviting someone, do I know them?" Naruto smiled at his dad from across the room, having re-entered the house with Karin. The elder smith shook his head no. He took a seat next his hyperactive apprentice in the kitchen and ruffled his head, warranting a laugh from Karin as well as an indignant look from his son.  
"No, Anko is an old friend." Kensei thought about what she was to him. She was one of his oldest friends: He had met the girl through his cousin years ago. But he rarely ever saw her, between never really visiting Konohagakure when he was younger and avoiding it outright until recently. He was surprised that she even remembered him in the bar earlier. Unlike him, she stood out; her purple hair and clothing choices weren't exactly meant to blend in with the crowd, unlike him. But that just magnified how different they were.

"So you two call each other curse words and drink together?" Naruto asked, almost as if it was common knowledge. Perhaps bringing the kid around with him to all of his buisness trips mirrored those of his own father's. Drinking, swearing, jokes he wouldn't understand until he was older and knew more about women, life and the anatomy of a horse. Manly things.  
"Yeah, I guess that does qualify her as a friend in my case, doesn't it?" Kensei laughed nervously, feeling the glare his cousin was directing towards him despite not even being in the same room anymore.

"That's cool!"  
"Your son invited Shunsuke's daughter over too." Kushina mentioned as she came back into the kitchen to start cooking ramen for her nephew.  
"Ahhh, so my boy likes girls who can make weapons as good as he can, eh?" Kensei smirked, glad the attention was off of him for once.  
"No I don't!" "As if!" Both of the children in the room said at the same time, looking at each other then back at the ground, mumbling and with a healthy red glow to their faces.  
Kensei watched and slapped his forehead. Of course something like this would happen to him. His /adopted/ son would like his /semi-in-law-cousin/.  
_Was that even what their legal relation is?_ Kensei thought for a few moments before shaking his head. Anyway he said it, it hurt his head and just state the following: _He isn't my blood son, so I guess it's ok?_

Well, whatever the case, Kensei knew this party was going to be awkward.

"So do you think I'm prettier than any other girl you've ever seen in your entire life?"  
"No."  
"Aww, you're so cute when you lie like that, Kensei."  
"I'm not. You're just drunk. Stop talking." Kensei rubbed his eyes, a mix of tired and frustrated. It was a feeling he was used to after drinking for so long, but the frustration was new. Anko, after arriving at the party and promptly going through three bottles of sake, decided to pull Kensei outside in the backyard and tell him every second of what he missed in Konohagakure over the years. And when she was done with that, how sorry she was at his loss all those years ago. And when /that/ was done with, asking him how 'pretty' she was and 'what the amount of love he held for her was equal to'.

All in all, he had to say, it was hard not to slam his head into the wall behind them.  
"Kensei, you're the only guy I know I can talk to like this and you won't do anything about it." Anko shook her head, a big smile on her face.  
"I've tried ignoring, telling you to stop-"  
"No, no, I mean as in not trying to make a move on me." Kensei blinked a few times, turning to look at her. That was probably true. After all, she /was/ rather pretty. And when she wasn't flirting with him, the conversations weren't boring.  
"It wouldn't be proper." Was all he could think of to say before sighing and looking down.

"Like I care about that." Anko snorted before taking a swig of her sake. "And last I checked you weren't exactly 'Mr. Proper.' I remember you calling the Hokage 'old man' and almost getting into a fist fight with villagers that bad mouthed me or your cousin."  
"That was different." Kensei smirked, recalling a time he /had/ punched someone out for calling Kushina a demon.  
"Not really."  
"Just let it go." Kensei waved his had slightly. In truth, just having women talk to him hurt slightly. It was a very small number after Kasumi had passed, and as the years grew he tried less and less, instead focusing on teaching Naruto about smithing. But the ones he tried to make it work with had always left.  
"Nope. I'm just going to have to try harder." Anko nudged against his arm with her own, laying her head against his shoulder. Kensei coughed lightly and tried to ignore it, instead, looking out at the village in front of them: Minato had chosen his house specifically for the commanding view it had of Konoha. It was in the 'back' of the village, which was higher up in the mountains and closer to the Hokage monument. With the sun setting down behind all of the houses and the forest behind it, the scene in front of them was certainly setting a mood. One which Kensei wished would go away.

". . .So tell me how pretty I am."

Inside the Namikaze house, Naruto was telling his two 'best lady friends' about his life in Wave and how traveling the nations with Kensei was' beyond all that was, is, and ever will be awesome!' Every mentioning of his hopes and dreams was met with a loving chuckle or laugh from one of the girls. They would then look at one another with just a hint of anger or indignation before looking back to the blonde in front of them.

Kakashi scratched his head, still buried in his book. It had taken a flight down the stairs when he had shown up late to the party, claiming that this time he had to take the long way around the village to avoid the bad luck of crossing a black cat. That and Kushina had always hated the little orange books and what was written in them, regardless of the fact said author was her daughter's godfather. If anything, that made her want to kill the man and anyone who read the books even more.

After an initial re-introduction with Kensei – who had worked on his own father's sword at some point – the two men had discussed the finer aspects of being alone. Or as they liked to call it, how life should be. Kakashi complained about the women that followed him when he was eatting, trying to get a look at his face, Kensei vented about the psychotic snake-using ninja that followed him from room to room, only leaving him for alcohol. And then the very same woman pulled him away and the two men shared a silent goodbye, knowing life was never going to be calm for them.

Kakashi had also made note of the blonde boy rampaging about with his bow, showing off to the girls initially. It quickly escalated into a pulling match between the two girls for the weapon and the boy's attention before Kensei pilfered the crossbow and put it well out of their reach. It was a strange but comforting sight for the one-eyed ninja. He had lost so much of his own family and friends, but his sensei had invited him in, more like a second father, really. It was these little moments that made Kakashi hopeful for Konoha's next ninja generation. As long as they calmed down and stopped fighting over boys, their weapons and being the next hokage.

"Alright everyone, go to the kitchen, it's cake time!" Kushina shouted happily. When only the children and her husband arrived, she repeated herself.  
"Cake time. Kitchen!" Kushina's smile had a certain malice to it after she finished, Kakashi knowing better and rushing to join the group. The red-head could feel her anger seeping out of every fiber of her being when she gave one last call to her cousin and his guest.  
"Oh Kensei. . .Anko. . .I do believe I asked you to come to the kitchen." Despite having spoken lower than her initial two requests, the pair walked back inside with an urgency that rivaled Gai trying to prove his youthfulness in comparison to Kakashi.

"Sorry Kushina, Kensei just couldn't keep his hands off m-"  
"She was too drunk to stand." Kensei cut the woman off, his arm supporting her. She took full advantage of this and wrapped her arms around him, smiling shamelessly. Kushina tried not to squeal at the cuteness and instead focused on her daughter's big moment. She was finally becoming a shinobi like her parents, after all.

"Cut the cake and make a wish!"  
"That's birthdays." Kensei said bluntly. Alcohol always dulled what little sense he had of proper timing and phrasing. Kushina's rage seeped back as she smiled politely at her cousin.  
". . .I meant to say it's true." Kensei nodded at Karin, the girl now eager to cut the desert in front of her. She closed her eyes and made a wordless wish, cutting the cake once before handing the knife to her mom.  
"What did you wish for?" Minato asked his daughter, giving her a light hug. She turned red and mumbled to her father, the blonde laughing lightly.

"What?"  
"Dad, don't!" The young girl's face grew a darker red and she quickly jabbed him in the side with a punch. He coughed and laughed harder. "Let's just say it involved marriage." Karin calmed down after her father was done talking, unable to look back up at the group in front of her.  
Kushina was going to find out sooner or later who her daughter had the hots for, so she passed out slices of cake, refraining from badgering Karin.

"On my birthday, I'm going to wish for you." Anko wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Kensei before taking a bite out of her cake. The smith almost choked on his food, walking into the living room with his son.  
"What does she mean, Ken-chan? Does she want you to stay here? Cause I want to stay here." Naruto had inhaled his slice of cake, already on a sugar-high. The boy's moods fluctuated quickly based on what he ate.

"No, she means. . .something else. But as for staying here. . ." Kensei had to think fast, his mind almost giving the boy the real answer for what she meant. _Stupid alcohol. _But Naruto's question did make Kensei think for a moment: It would be nice to live in Konohagakure. He had friends there, a guaranteed job position working for a government that put high priority in their military spending, it was notoriously cheap to buy materials there – all of the elemental nations apparently running some sort of deal with imports and exports - and most of all his family was there.

It was perfect on paper. But it really wouldn't be perfect on paper. The idea of having a renowned smith and his apprentice working for one nation alone, and one with it's own military, was going to cause some problems. Probably make villagers pissed off at him and his son. Maybe give some nation a reason to start a fight. Maybe even a war.

It was a horrible idea. He'd have to pull his son aside later and describe why they couldn't live with their only relatives. With their family.

". . .let me think about it."

* * *

**Chapter 4 took quite a bit. I think it's because I finally have a job. That and summer classes for the first time in my entire life. I'll try and write more when I can, but I have to be honest: What little time I do have free is usually spent sleeping now. Regardless, I'll still be writing and trying to update when I can.**

**-Constantine**

"**I sometimes wonder about myself.  
Couldn't I just be making this all up as I go along?  
Though I feel alone at times, shouldn't I feel like I belong?" - When You Lose I Lose As Well, Poison the Well**


End file.
